Dreamwalker
by BeckyLadiye
Summary: AU/Canon Couples - When Carlisle introduces Edward to a young coma patient, they discover that Leia's mind still works just fine. What would happen if the hospital is forced to disconnect her life support? Can vampire venom heal *everything*?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is an AU story. There might be some borrowed dialogue from Twilight in here somewhere, as it does parallel that book. Please read the disclaimer.

Disclaimer: The Twilight Series belongs to Stephanie Meyer. I'm only borrowing her universe for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of my readers. No copyright infringment is intended, no profit will be made off of this story. I do so solemnly swear to return the characters I borrowed. However, the character of Leia Cullen is my very much a child of my own imagination, so I'll be keeping her. Her brothers would be very irritated if someone decided to steal her from me. So mitts off.

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Chapter One

The first thing I noticed was not the darkness. I had lived in darkness all my life. I was blind, so…no, it wasn't the black void that caught my attention. It was the absence of sensation. Not just the absence of pain, which I was fleetingly grateful for, but I felt nothing. For someone that relied on her other senses to 'see' the world, it was terrifying. I would have screamed if I could have found my voice, but even that was beyond my reach.

I had no way to measure time in my void, where I floated with only my consciousness. I knew this wasn't a dream, because my dreams are always vivid. How can a blind person have vivid dreams, you ask? Because my dreams aren't just my subconscious telling me stories. In my dreams, I can truly see. Not through my own eyes, of course not, but through my mother's eyes and more recently through my father's eyes. I really hated dreaming, though, because it was invariably a nightmare. My father had become the monster he'd promised my mother on her deathbed he would not, so seeing through his eyes wasn't a pleasant experience.

In one way, I suppose the void was still better than living in reality. I was free of my father here. I took as much comfort in that as I possibly could. It helped me live though the endless nothingness, but I knew I would go completely insane if something didn't change. I struggled to extend each of my senses beyond the edges of the numb expanse that had become my home.

"…_in a coma for weeks."_

"_The doctor says she still has brain activity that suggests she's not a lost cause, but I don't know how long they'll keep her on life support."_

"_Well, isn't that what you're here to decide? Since she's a Jane Doe, the state has the responsibility to decide if we waste valuable resources or pull the plug and let her die with a little dignity."_

I would have flinched if my body was in my control when I finally found the one sense that I could push beyond the void. My hearing. For a long moment, I was just so thrilled for any kind of stimulus that I didn't really hear what they were saying, didn't process the words. When I did finally think over their actual words, I began to panic. In the background I heard an odd, erratic beeping sound.

"_Gentlemen, I thought I requested you not discuss this in the presence of my patient. You're upsetting her."_

Yes, you're upsetting me! I don't want to die, with dignity or no. I wanted to scream that at the top of my lungs and the erratic beeping turned wild. I would realize later that it was my heart monitor. Now, however, I was just praying my angel would send them away. He couldn't be a doctor, not with a voice like that. His words were like smoothly ringing brass bells.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Cullen. We have to make a decision soon. It's been three months and she hasn't shown any signs of waking…" The voice trailed off as the speaker moved away, as if leaving the room. I didn't calm down. They had left me alone again and I needed to know what they were saying. Three months? I had been in a coma for three months? My last memories were of my father, reeking of alcohol and other substances, coming home after a night out drunk to find me listening to my mother's old records. Everything was black after that. Suddenly I was glad for the blackness, because I knew that my father had put me in this coma, had nearly killed me like he had killed my mother. He might still succeed, if those men talked my angel into letting me die.

"I'm sorry about that."

My angel was back. I heard the beeping smooth out in the background.

"Well, that's the first positive reaction I've seen. You've had me worried you were going to slip away from us."

I wanted to tell him I was here. The void was still black but now it was filled with noise. I guess I was hearing the sounds of the machines keeping me alive. The sharp hissing was close, probably a ventilator. I could hear muffled voices in the hallway beyond my room, hear the squeak of shoes past my door. I still couldn't feel anything, but I wasn't alone in my void.

"Don't worry, my girl. We'll figure something out, I promise. I'll come back later and check on you. I might even bring my son with me. If you're with us, then he'll know for certain and we can make some plans."

My angel wasn't giving up on me! I heard my heart monitor change rhythm again and I heard a gentle chuckle.

"Well, if that isn't proof enough…"

And he was gone. I didn't hear him leave, but I knew he was gone. I prayed that he would keep his promise and return. People didn't keep promises, but surely angels did? Time would tell, time that I could now count with each hissing, artificial breath my ventilator made. I was on breath number four hundred and sixty something when I fell into a perfectly natural sleep state.

I was dreaming again. Though I suppose I should call it something else. It was walking in a mind that wasn't my own, like I often did with my father. Since my mother died, I hated falling asleep. I was lucky that I only seemed to dream when my father was at home, but to be forced to follow him through a usual routine of drinking himself into a stupor and then collapsing on the couch was bad enough. When I had been lucky, he had passed out and I was able to drift into natural sleep. When I was unlucky, he would watch TV. On the good nights, he watched infomercials and sometimes a football game. On the bad nights, well, he pulled out the box of videotapes he had hidden in the hall closet. I had learned quickly that I really could wake myself up from my strange mind-walking dreams if I was horrified enough.

But this time my dreams found me in the mind of someone else. Not my mother, of course, and definitely not my father. Neither of my parents had ever seen like this. Everything was in perfect clarity, down to almost microscopic detail. I didn't know light was so beautiful. Maybe both of my parents were nearly blind themselves. But then he moved and I watched as the world moved around him. My parents never moved that fast either. I expected the edges of things to blur as he flashed from one side of a tidy office to another, but the clarity remained. He was pulling books from bookshelves so fast the transition from shelf to hand barely registered. I wished, not for the first time, that I could actually read the letters on the spines of the hundreds of books on those shelves.

My mind-walking never included sound, but I could always tell when someone was talking or when they were listening. I felt him tilt his head as if hearing something important. Suddenly he was out of his office and moving down the hallways of a hospital at a fairly normal pace. Any time there was no one to see him, the white walls flashed by. He didn't take the elevator. No, that would have been too slow. He went from the top of the stairs to the bottom, as I watched at least six floors flashed by, in an instant. Had he even used the steps? Surely he hadn't leapt down the stairwell?

It wasn't until he swept into the Emergency Room that I realized my dream walker was a doctor. He surveyed the chaos, noticing several patients, as if gauging their wounds. Each blood covered gash was clear to him, every bruise that wasn't covered in cloth. Inside my own mind, I shuddered. This wasn't as bad as my father's porn collection, but I really didn't want to be here. When he strode into a room bustling with frantically working nurses and doctors, I saw a child's broken body and wanted to cry. She couldn't be more than five, her tiny limbs jerking with pain.

It was hard to watch as my doctor swooped in and scattered two of the nurses in his haste to help the girl. The girl's injuries were horrendous, the left side of her body scraped raw, compound fractures and a mangled left arm. I watched the doctor's vision focus very briefly on the blood dripping to the floor and then flash back to the arm. There was a flurry of motion as he accessed and directed the people around him like a conductor with an orchestra. As horrible as it was to watch the girl's pain, it was also amazing to watch the doctor and his team work to put her back together. My dream walk took me as far as the operating room. I was both relieved and sad to wake up, back to the senseless void. To distract myself, I pushed my senses outward again to find my hearing was still working. I counted another sixty two hissing breaths before I slid mercifully into a dreamless sleep.

"…_not getting anything, Carlisle."_

As I pushed myself out of the void once more, I heard another angelic voice.

"I was so sure she was with us this morning. Her heart went crazy when they started talking about removing her from life support…" My angel doctor trailed off when my heart monitor began to beep erratically again.

No, I'm here, I'm here. See, my heart's going crazy again. I thought how odd that a heart monitor would be my only communication tool.

"Wow. Okay, now we're getting something." The new, deeper voiced angel spoke again and I felt relief.

"Oh, that's good. Is she coherent?" Carlisle, for that must be the name of my angel doctor, sounded very excited. I wondered how this new angel would know if I was coherent, since no one else seemed to know for sure. Well, beyond my crazy heart monitor.

"That is the most absurd thing I've ever heard." The new angel snorted softly and I gave a mental sigh. So, he didn't think I was coherent? Well, that could be good or bad. Maybe they would take me to heaven with them, I thought in dark amusement.

"Ah, so she's not?" The doctor echoed my thoughts. He sounded very disappointed. Almost as much as me. I really wanted someone that would at least talk to me, even if I couldn't talk back. The void was getting unbearable, even with the invasion of sound into my darkness. I heard a soft hiss then, as if someone had spoken in a whisper too soft for anyone to pick up. Except maybe Carlisle, because he responded to that hissed whisper.

"Amazing! It's such a shame we can't…" and the doctor trailed off into a hissed whisper of his own. I wanted to grimace in frustration. It was a shame they couldn't what? Save me? I vaguely heard my heart monitor going wild again. Did I mention I didn't want to die? Then again, what kind of life was this, lying in a hospital bed communicating via heart monitor with my angel doctor? Death might be kinder. All my dreams came crashing down around me. I had finally escaped from my father just to end up actually like my mother had. Dead.

"No. I won't allow it." Carlisle's voice was raised now. I had the sudden urge to grit my teeth. He wouldn't allow what? I had always hated when people talked about me like I wasn't there. It's amazing how often people assume that handicapped people can't understand plain English like 'normal' people. I may be blind but I am not deaf, I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs.

"Sorry." The other angel's voice was closer to me now, as if he had come to the edge of the bed.

"My name is Carlisle Cullen and this is my son, Edward. I'm sorry we're talking around you. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be for you." Carlisle's warm voice calmed my frustration and I wanted to smile. He really had brought his son to meet me. It was an awkward introduction, though. Hadn't the man this morning called me a Jane Doe? That meant they didn't know who I was. That thought should have disturbed me, but instead it flooded me with relief. Maybe that meant my father couldn't come claim me. If I had to die, at least I wouldn't have to hear him grumble about the cost of funeral. God forbid he spend his hard earned money on my final resting place. Mom still didn't have a headstone.

"Your family must be worried sick." Edward's comment seemed more like a confused question than commentary. I wanted to snort with laughter. My mother had been my only real family. Once my father had killed her, I had been alone. Except for the horrible nights when he remembered I was still alive. I would have shuddered to remember them, if I could. It might have been surprising that it had taken him this long to put me in the hospital, but I was very good at keeping out of his way. Obviously he couldn't be bothered to bring me to the hospital himself, since they didn't even know my name.

There were more hissed whispers then and even a low growl from somewhere near my ear. I wanted to cringe away from it, but I was stuck in black void land with nothing but my ears connected to the outside world.

"You're neck is broken. You're paralyzed from the neck down. I'm sorry if we left you without stimulus for so long, but we weren't sure if you were…alert." Carlisle was talking loud enough for me to hear again and I was listening more to hear the sound of his voice than his comments about my body. I was very interested, of course. It explained my inability to move. But shouldn't I still be able to move my mouth, wiggle my nose or lick my lips?

Carlisle continued. "We believe you're in what is called a 'lock-down state', not a true coma. It means you're mind is working, but something's messed up the connections between your body and your brain. You've been through an awful trauma, my girl. It's my hope that you will be able to fight through it and come back to us."

Come back to what, I wondered? I might as well be a vegetable. I was supposed to be in school right now, a real school for the blind that would have kept me away from my father for seven months out of the year. It had been the greatest joy of my life when my guidance counselor at the tiny school for the blind in Forsythe, Maine had told me I'd gotten a full scholarship. Now I had nothing. I finally understood the conversation I had overheard when I first found my ears. I was a ward of the state, an unknown child with no background that no one would want even if I did regain my other senses. I would be a burden on anyone, just has I had been a burden on my mother and father; a burden that had driven my father to drink and thus my mother to her death. Perhaps the man had been right. Best to let them pull the plug and die with what little dignity I had left.

"No. Leia, don't give up yet." Edward's voice was gentle, whispered in my ear. Ah, so he really must be an angel. He knew my name and he knew I was ready to give up. Could an angel read my thoughts?

'_Just take me with you when you go back to heaven, that's all I ask.'_

"I'm no angel, Leia. No wings, no halo. I'm just…different." For some reason his words were full of scorn, as if he didn't like who or what he was.

'_You can hear me?' _That thought shattered my despair and suddenly I felt hopeful. If I had one person that I could talk to, maybe I could keep the black void from driving me insane. Or perhaps it already had and I was just dreaming. I hadn't realized my imagination was that creative.

"You aren't insane, Leia. I can hear you. I promise I'll come and visit you if you promise not to give up. Let us try to help you." His words were spoken in a voice like velvet, almost hypnotic. How could I say no to him?

"Wonderful. Now, what's your full name sweetie and where are you from?" It was Carlisle's voice this time, and I felt the edge of panic.

'_Please don't tell my father where I am!'_

"It's alright, Leia. Your father will not touch you again." Edward's voice again, the velvet edged with steel now. He hissed something at Carlisle and I thought I might have heard another low growl.

"I promise you, you're father will not get away with hurting you, Leia. Unfortunately, your witness will mean nothing to the state, since Edward can't exactly tell them he pulled it from your head. So, we will keep the details between us right now, I promise." Carlisle voice soothed me and I felt comfortable answering Edward's questions. He asked several before answering a few of mine. By the time he and Carlisle left, I knew I was at a hospital in Furs, Maine. That was almost three hours from Forsythe. Carlisle said that one of the nurse's had nearly tripped over me in the parking lot. How nice that my father had been thoughtful enough to drive me all the way here and drop me off after nearly beating me to death.

Edward had left the television on. His thoughtfulness gave me hope that he really did plan to return soon. So instead of listening to the hiss of my ventilator, I listened to Andy Griffith reruns. One of the nurses came in about an hour later and turned the television off, muttering something about wasting electricity. I sighed mentally and went back to counting my breaths. It was better than counting sheep. Only one hundred something and I was drifting back into another dreamless sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: This is an AU story. There might be some borrowed dialogue from Twilight in here somewhere, as it does parallel that book. Please read the full disclaimer on chapter one.

Disclaimer: The Twilight Series belongs to Stephanie Meyer. Mitts off Leia.

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Chapter Two

I felt the gentle touch of fingers on my cheek. Carlisle's fingers were cool, but anything tactile was nice. I had my sense of touch and smell back. I had beaten the black void. Unfortunately I hadn't regained the ability to move anything and I still couldn't breathe on my own. The state doctors were making a decision this week as to my fate and Carlisle seemed so sad I knew he didn't expect their decision to be in favor of leaving me on life support.

Over the past two months, Carlisle was a constant visitor to my room. Since he was a doctor here, that wasn't surprising. In fact, he was my dream-walking doctor. It had taken me about three dream-walking episodes to figure that out. After watching him treat his patients, I was in awe of this compassionate man. He was beautiful as the angel I was convinced he had to be. He had a picture on his desk of himself and his wife, Esme, and another of his teenage 'children'. He and Esme had adopted them all. I thought they were beautiful. Of course, I didn't have a lot of people to compare them with. My visual imagery was limited to what I saw in my dream-walks. All the Cullen's were so pale and their skin was cold. I knew this because both Carlisle and Edward touched my face often.

Edward was another surprise. He visited often, at least twice a week, and he usually spent several hours with me. I was thrilled to have someone that I could chat with. I tried to keep our talks from becoming morose. I didn't want my last few weeks to be filled with darkness, anymore than they already were. Edward was funny, often sarcastic, but he made me wish that I could laugh aloud. He told me antedotes about his brothers and sisters. The last few times he'd come, he had brought books. I had confessed a weakness for fantasy novels, which were hard to find in Braille, so he had introduced me to 'the father of fantasy' as he called him, J.R.R. Tolkien. He would sit with me and read in his beautiful velvet voice until I fell to sleep.

Now, as Carlisle spoke about a young child he had treated just this morning, I realized that both the Cullen men had become my friends. I had never had friends before, not really. I had a few people that I'd spoken with at the school in Forsythe, but I had been so worried about them seeing my bruises and asking questions that I had held everyone at an arm's length. But the Cullen's knew about the abuse and other than an obvious concern, they never spoke of it. Perhaps they spent time with me out of pity, but I got the feeling they were both glad to keep me company. Carlisle would often talk about some of his most difficult cases with me. Sometimes I could almost see the stress on his beautiful face. I couldn't respond, but he seemed to appreciate having someone to vent to. I had Edward tell him several times that I was glad to listen.

As for Edward, he never made me feel like I was imposing on him. At first, our conversations had been a bit stilted, but as we got to know one another, or rather as Edward dug around in my head enough to know me well, we always seemed to find little odd things in common. We shared a love for music, both classical and classic oldies, books and strangely enough geography. I missed the old maps at the school for the blind with their raised edges and Braille labels. Edward described several of the places that I had only ever dreamed of visiting. Not that a blind person could really enjoy being a tourist. Edward's descriptions were vivid, though, and I wondered how a seventeen year old could have visited so many wonderful places. He never answered *that* question.

I tried my best to hide my dream-walking talent from Edward. It wasn't that I thought he would be shocked or call me a freak. He was a mind-reader for heaven's sake. But some of the things I saw during my dream-walks with Carlisle lead me to some odd conclusions about the Cullen's. He moved incredibly fast when he didn't think someone was watching and he was incredibly strong. I saw him move his desk once with one hand in order to get to his computer wires. It was a heavy wooden desk and he hadn't just pulled it, he had put his palm under it and had lifted it two feet off the floor and set it down a foot away from the wall as if it was no heavier than a feather pillow.

"_We are not angels."_ How many times had Edward said that, his tone ranging from exasperated to downright angry? I knew I would probably never know exactly what they were, but I didn't think they were human. Perhaps I had read too many fantasies in my life. My elves theory had gotten shot down by Edward too. He even threatened to stop reading me the Lord of the Rings books if I didn't stop thinking it.

"_Children these days."_ He had actually muttered that and I could almost picture him rolling his eyes. He seemed so much older than seventeen, despite his insistence and the picture I had seen through Carlisle's eyes. I didn't push him about it, though. I was too afraid he would get angry and stop coming to see me.

"Oh, Edward asked me to give you another CD. He wanted to come see you again this week but he's busy with finals. I'll pop it in for you. I think he actually composed one especially for you, along with a few that he said you'd recognize. Evidently you two talk about music a lot. I guess since you're blind music would be something you would truly appreciate. He didn't mention if you played any instruments. I suppose that's so cliché, though. The blind musician." Carlisle chuckled softly and I would have grinned if I'd been able. I heard him move to the bedside table and heard a couple of faint clicks as he put in the new CD Edward had made for me. I was awed by his beautiful talent with the piano. If I couldn't have Edward here, I would have to be satisfied with his music. Carlisle didn't turn on the music immediately though.

"Leia, I'm…I wanted to ask you something very important. I know you can't give me your answer, but I want you to be able to consider it until you see Edward again. Next week, when they remove your life support, you are going to die. I don't have any arguments I can use to stall them now that wouldn't expose Edward's gift and put us all in grave danger." Carlisle's face was close to me now. I could feel his cool breath on my face, smell the oddly intoxicating scent of it. It wasn't enough to distract me from his words, though. I could hear my heart skipping erratically with fear and despair. As resigned as I thought I was with the thought of my own death, I wasn't ready for it.

"I'm offering you an alternative, Leia. A chance, only, since I'm not sure how to work the conversion since you can't breathe at all. But maybe we can switch your tracheotomy to a regular ventilator…well, that's not your concern. I am offering you life with us, part of our family. Edward has grown so fond of you and he's told us so much about you that we would be thrilled to get to know you as he has. Esme speaks of nothing else these past few weeks. Don't get me wrong. It wouldn't be easy. We are not angels as you seem inclined to believe, Leia. We are…vampires." He paused when my heart monitor went nuts. I felt his fingers on my face, as gentle as always. I did my best to calm down, to let him finish talking.

"We don't drink human blood, not my family. We like to call ourselves 'vegetarian' vampires. We work very hard to live with humans, to be a part of their world and to protect them when we can. We are going to Alaska, to spend some time with the Denali's, another family like ours, and you would be able to adjust there, to learn how to control your thirst. But it is your choice, Leia. Let Edward know what you decide. He'll be here this weekend." With that, Carlisle turned on my CD and fled the room.

That Sunday

"_What is there to decide? I either become one of you or I die. I really would like to take that second option off of my to-do list, Edward."_

"I just want you to consider what you might be giving up if you do this."

"_You think I'm giving up my soul. I understand that, Edward, but I don't agree with you. If my father in all his drunken evil glory has a soul, then I'll choose to believe that you and your father, your whole family, have the most beautiful souls under heaven. You've denied your very nature, Edward, because you choose to follow your conscience. No soulless being could do that, I think. It is the only thing that separates you from pure animal predators. So I choose the three days of pain and year or two of crazy thirst to have a chance at life."_

"When you think like that, I have a hard time remembering you're a fifteen year old girl." Edward's words were both frustrated and slightly amused. I threw a mental snort at him.

"_Fine talk for the oldest seventeen year old in the world_."

"Well, just so we're clear, I'll respect your decision and I will try to be the best big brother you've ever had." He was serious and I knew he'd caught the edge of my fears that he might be angry with me for refusing to even think things over again. He had just soothed the last of my real reservations. Of course I was nervous about the process. Carlisle had mentioned it might not go as planned. I could die before the venom had a chance to move through my body. Then there was my concern about how they would get me out of the hospital without attracting attention.

"Let us worry about that." Now Edward sounded completely confident and I decided to let it go and just enjoy his company for the evening. At least until he brought up a new subject. "Now, we really need to have a chat. I'd love to know how it is when you talk about my father you have a perfect image of him in your head. For a person blind from birth, you have an uncannily accurate sense of visual imagery."

I knew I was going to have to explain my dream-walking then. I supposed that I could trust him with my deepest, darkest secret since he and his father had confided theirs. So I showed him my latest walk with Carlisle. It had been last night. There hadn't been much going on, so Carlisle had spent a great deal of time in his office reading. He had checked in on me once, but of course I was sleeping.

It always shocked me to see myself through Carlisle's eyes. I'd seen myself through my mother's and my father's eyes, but Carlisle's better than human vision saw all my tiny flaws. My hair was a lank mess of brown curls, my dry skin so pale it was almost translucent. I was surprised to see that my cheeks had some color and I had a sprinkling of freckles across my nose. I was painfully thin but I thought I might had gone through another growth spurt because my body looked longer than I remember from the last time my father had looked at me during one of my dream-walks. I had a tracheotomy in my throat and a feeding tube down my nose.

"Well, looks like you'll fit right into the family. Between my mind-reading, Alice's fortunetelling and Jasper's empathy, we're a freak show already. Might as well add a dream-walker. I don't know how it will translate to your new life, though, since we don't sleep." Edward actually sounded amused. "Is it totally involuntary?"

"_Yes._" I showed him some of my mother's memories. I didn't want to think about my father, but I know he caught some memories I couldn't keep out of my conscious because I heard his sharp intake of breath and then felt his fingers on my face.

"I'm sorry, Leia. If it's any consolation, human memories tend to fade quickly if you don't make a conscious effort to hang onto them." And it was a consolation. The thought that I might be able to forget my father was another reason to tell Carlisle I was ready now. I hoped I could remember my mother, though. Edward's fingertips skimmed my cheek again in a comforting gesture. He didn't touch me nearly as often as Carlisle. He'd explained once that it was because he wasn't sure if he could control his own strength. I was thrilled when he managed to overcome his resistance. Living for six months with no touch was hard. Somehow those gentle touches helped to pull me closer to reality.

"_So, conversion should heal my neck. Do you think it might heal my eyes, too? So that I can see?"_ I was almost afraid to ask this question, but what blind person wouldn't have it at the top of their list of most important questions?

"I don't know, Leia. Maybe Alice can tell, now that you've made a decision. I guess it depends on why you're blind. If it's something that just wrong, maybe. But if it's something missing, I don't think the venom can change that." Edward's words made sense but since my parents hadn't been able to afford dozens of specialist to poke around my head to pinpoint what had caused my blindness, I wasn't comforted. Edward sighed.

"I wish we had time to do that for you, Leia, but we're all packed up. We'll be heading out tonight. We need to be gone before you disappear. It will keep suspicion off us."

"_Well then, I suppose we'll just have to wait and see. Surprises can be fun, right?"_


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: This is an AU story. There might be some borrowed dialogue from Twilight in here somewhere, as it does parallel that book. Please read the full disclaimer on chapter one.

Disclaimer: The Twilight Series belongs to Stephanie Meyer. Mitts off Leia.

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Chapter Three

Okay, so I had lied when I'd told Edward that the pain was worth it. Nothing was worth this pain. Not my sight, not a new family, not all the money in the world. I had been coping until the venom had healed my spine. I went from feeling like my head had been tossed into an incinerator to having my entire body heaved in behind it. Incinerator? More like a nuclear reactor. I couldn't even scream because I had a tube shoved down my throat to keep me breathing until the venom could burn every cell in my lungs to ash.

"I'm sorry, Leia." Edward's voice rang in my head, giving me something to concentrate on other than the pain. Okay, maybe I could do this. Just keep talking, I thought at him between mental screams. He did better than that. He began to recite _The Hobbit_. Not read. I knew that because he had both arms wrapped around me as I burned, rocking me gently. He recited the book from memory. I would have been awed, but I was still burning too hot to do more than concentrate on the words and fight the urge to claw my own eyes out.

About the time the Bilbo was chatting with Smaug, I realized my mind felt different, deeper. Like I could contemplate six different math problems at once and still have room left over to consider every lick of flame in every cell in my body. It was actually harder now, since my new brain had a harder time focusing on just one thing. But Edward kept reciting and I clutched his arms with hands that burned. I couldn't even appreciate my ability to move my body. It was everything I could do to hold myself still beyond twitches and the convulsive clutching at Edward's cold, hard arms.

We were in a van driving to Alaska. Well, Carlisle was driving and Edward was in the back holding me. As another distraction, I imagined it was like an old hippie van with the bed in the back and flowers and peace symbols painted on the side. That should have made Edward laugh, or at least comment sarcastically, but he didn't. I knew then that his concern for me was real, that he cared enough to worry about me beyond the obligatory pity.

_"Remind me to tell you how much that means to me later."_

"You're my little sister. It's my job to love you unconditionally and protect you from the world. At least until you can hold your own against Emmett. Then you're on your own." His gentle humor was laced with agony. I wanted to hug him but it turned into a convulsion as the pain slipped past my defenses. He didn't try to hold me still, probably for fear he would crush me, but he didn't leave my side. Somewhere in the middle of my thrashing, Edward removed the tube from my throat. They had done this a couple of times before, only to have to put it back in when I began to suffocate. This time, the removal was a relief. I sucked in a great, deep breath and screamed. Just once, to hear the sound of my own voice again. Then I went back to twitching and clutching at Edward's arms, my teeth clenched shut against the rest of the screams. Edward went back to reciting _The Hobbit_, not missing a beat in Smaug's monologue.

When Edward finished the book, he and Carlisle switched places. I still didn't trust myself to speak without screaming, but I so much wanted to tell my angel doctor how much I loved him. I should probably hate him at this particular moment, since my body was still being incinerated by the liquid fire in my veins, but knew the decision had been mine.

In my life, no one had ever asked me what I wanted. My decisions had been made for me from day one. Even my mother, who I had loved dearly, hadn't been comfortable letting me be independent. I had always been her burden to bear, and then after she was gone I was my father's. I had learned fast that what my mother had endured with love, my father wouldn't tolerate.

"You are not a burden to us, Leia. In point of fact, you are a much anticipated blessing." Edward's voice carried easily to me. Carlisle was rocking me as Edward had moments ago, his cool hand stroking my hair. Carlisle picked up where Edward left off.

"I will hear no more of this burden business. From this moment on, you are part of a family unit. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, everyone plays a part. Even if you have no other role than to be someone new for us to love, that is enough. I know you haven't met the rest of the family yet, but Esme is beside herself with joy. There is so little change in our lives, Leia, that new things are always exciting. Even challenges, especially challenges, are welcome."

I was able to ponder that despite my pain and felt the hope that I would really, truly belong with the Cullen family flare almost as hot as the flames licking along my skin. I didn't take long to contemplate it, though, because something new was happening. Carlisle was right. New things were welcome. The flames were retreating from my toes.

"Carlisle." Edward's voice was excited.

"We're only an hour out. We'll make it, I think. Call Alice."

_"What's happening?" _My mental question was asked of Edward, of course. If I opened my mouth, no doubt I would have just screamed.

"It's almost over." Edward's words were quiet, but I had no trouble hearing them or the relief and excitement underlying them.

"_Yay. Define almost_." I wanted to be excited too, but as the flames pulled out of my toes and now my fingers, it began to intensify in the rest of my body. Not good. I was barely able to focus on Edward's telephone call to the famous Alice. My sister who could see the future. I would have been thrilled at the thought, but I was trying my best to crawl out of the back of a van moving at God knew how many miles per hour. Carlisle was gripping me firmly, though, forestalling my efforts.

"Alice says we'll make to the house with a few minutes to spare, so about an hour. Hold on, little sister. The road's about to get a little bumpy." His words registered. Barely. Bumpy roads had no meaning to me as my body began the slow transformation from a uniformly seared charcoal briquette to a mini-sun. I focused on Carlisle's whispered words of comfort but by the end, I couldn't stop the screams. I felt ashamed, no matter how many soothing hands I felt on me as I was carried from the van into a house. By the time the fire accomplished its ultimate goal, the death of my heart, I was ensconced in a soft bed and it was so quiet in the room I thought for just a moment that I might be alone.

"We're here." Edward's voice was close. I relaxed and reveled momentarily in the lack of pain before I inhaled a deep breath of air. Air that I didn't need, really. But with the rush of cool air came a multitude of exotic smells, all pleasant and some almost intoxicating. I was able to separate out Carlisle and Edward from the scents, as they had been so close to me for the last two days. Edward reminded me of honey and freshly washed linen drying in the sun. Carlisle was a deeper, spicier scent. Like Chai Tea sprinkled with cocoa. My sense of smell had always been well-developed, but this was amazing.

My hearing...I could hear the light breeze brushing fabric, swishing along the walls, the creak of trees somewhere outside, the crunch of snow under hooves and the steady thumping of the heart above those hooves...was nothing compared to the flash of thirsty flames in my throat. A haze descended over my mind as the wilder side of my new nature demanded I feed it. My eyes flashed open and I laughed, the haze stuttered for a moment as my focus shifted. My laughter was a bitter, if musical, sound.

"Shattered dreams, immortal night..." I murmured, ignoring the musical quality to my voice. I was still blind. I felt the gentle touch of a hand against my cheek. Not the hard, cold touch I was used to from Carlisle, but he smelled right, so I didn't flinch.

"I'm sorry, Leia." Carlisle voice was full of remorse. I smiled for him and shook my head, sitting up.

"Don't be. We knew it was only a chance." I couldn't see, but I could feel the shift of bodies around me, knew that the rest of my new family was somewhere close. Not too close, though. I remembered Edward saying that I would be a little erratic for a while, stronger and thirstier than the usual vampire for a year or two. The haze grabbed me again.

"I'm gonna need some help then, hunting." I grated out with a sigh. Burden again. Edward took my hand and squeezed it. I squeezed it back and felt him wince. Ah, yes. Stronger. I relaxed my grip.

"There's a something in that direction." I pointed in the direction I heard the animal's heart. There was a beat of time before I heard Edward snort softly.

"No, I don't hear anything either, but if she says she hears a something, we'll go in that direction. Leia, Jasper is going to run with us. I'm going to carry you, so we can get you fed faster, alright?" The haze didn't care if they shot me out of a cannon towards the food, as long as I got fed and soon. Edward chuckled and scooped me up. I leaned my head against his shoulder and closed my useless eyes, trying to clamp down on my thirst. And suddenly I was dream-walking.

The landscape was white, glittering under a full moon that was setting over the huge evergreen forest on the edge of a large, snow blanketed meadow. The forest rushed up to meet me so fast that I gasped and was jolted out of the borrowed vision. Edward came to a stop.

"Wow. That was surreal."

"We can discuss it later. Food." I growled at him. I heard a deep, warm chuckle to our left. Jasper, I supposed. I would have been more curious about my new brother, but the haze was still in control and I felt the urge to snap at something, preferably something warm and wet and ... ugh!! I felt Edward leap back into motion, felt the wind rushing by. I closed my eyes and there it was again, the forest flashing by in perfect clarity despite the dark under the canopy.

Every tree trunk was etched in relief, pine needles swaying in the breeze, crystals of ice dripping from branches and snow piled in fluffy drifts. I could see the top of my head, the curve of my body in Edward's arms and felt a little thrill of exultation despite my thirst. This was running as Edward knew it. He loved it and now I knew why. I tucked my head under his chin and enjoyed the ride.

Edward came to a halt soon, his head tilting as he heard and scented what I had heard back at the house. It didn't smell nearly as good as it sounded, I noted, but my thirst wasn't going to be picky.

"Jasper, think you can catch without eating?" Edward's question wasn't responded to out loud, but I saw a tall, graceful man step into Edward's vision and grin lazily. I vaguely noted his handsome face, the grace that he moved with. It was the scars that caught my wavering attention and held it for a brief moment. The multitude of crescent shaped teeth marks on his lower face and neck made me shiver. His expression became confused and I remembered that he was the family empath. He wouldn't know why I was suddenly horrified. For him, not of him. I noted the angle of my head in Edward's arms and aimed a smile at Jasper...or perhaps it was more of a grimace.

"If you can't, just scare it this way." My suggestion came out fairly well but ended in a snarl. I was tensed in Edward's arms, wanting nothing more than to leap into the forest and stalk the animal that I knew was so close, alone.

"Don't get territorial, baby sister. I fed well last night, so no worries." Jasper's voice was even deeper than Edward's and filled with amusement laced with concern. He disappeared so fast I barely registered the blur of his passing. I could hear him, though. It was strange to have a dream-walk...well, I suppose since I couldn't sleep that wasn't really the proper term for it anymore...with my other senses to layer the experience. I followed Jasper's progress by the sound of the wind against his shirt, the occasional very quiet crunch of snow beneath his feet. Edward leaned down to whisper in my ear.

"You're sense of hearing is amazing, even for a vampire."

_"I'd trade it in for some not-so-amazing eyes. How am I supposed to hunt blind?" _I responded to him in my mind, as I was so used to doing.

"We'll think of something." His whisper was followed by the sound of a struggle in the trees ahead, including a few very impressive bellows from whatever Jasper was catching. Then there was a soft whump and the sound of something large being dragged. Jasper came into view after a moment pulling an elk the size of a small car by the back hooves. I knew it wasn't dead. The heart still beat. I didn't hesitate now, leaping from Edward's arms with a snarl. The minute I left his arms, the sense of sight shut off. I didn't need it anymore, however, since I knew precisely where my dinner was. I went on instinct from there.

It was a few hours later, after Jasper and Edward captured me a couple of smaller elk, that we returned to the house. With my thirst muted, if not satisfied, I could focus a little better on more important things. Like meeting my new family. I looked at myself through Edward's eyes and corrected that thought. I needed a washcloth and some new clothes.

"Not to worry about the clothes. You get to be Alice's doll for a while. Maybe we'll get a little reprieve." Edward's words were highly amused and Jasper snorted softly.

"Not likely. If it's one thing my wife loves, it's dressing us up. It makes her happy, though." Jasper shrugged, as if that made all the difference in the world. I could hear the adoration in his voice, see it in his face through Edward's eyes and I marveled.

"_How long have they been together?"_ My question to Edward made him grin. I could feel it since I had my hand against his face.

"Four decades, but we'll have time enough for stories later. Let's meet everyone first and then you can ask them all the questions you want between hunting to keep your newborn appetite satisfied."

"Okay." I was excited now. I wanted to say so many things to Carlisle, wanted to let Esme hug me to pieces as he'd promised me she would. I wanted to be teased by Emmett and dressed up by Alice and Rosalie. I felt Edward's expression change to a grimace and I sighed.

"I know, I know. We have to take it slow so I don't snap and try to rip someone's head off." I sighed, my excitement swinging to disappointment in a heartbeat. Each emotion was so intense, so vivid, that I could understand why newborns were dangerous. Easily distracted, highly volatile due to our thirst and with emotions that took over all conscious thought. The disappointment changed to amusement.

"Like Tinkerbell." My words made Edward snort softly and made Jasper turn an incredulous look on the both of us, one eyebrow raised in query. So I reasoned it out for him. "J.M. Barrie says that fairies are so small that they only have room for one emotion and when they feel it, there isn't any room for anything else. I guess it's really the opposite, since in my case my brain is not really small, it's just that the emotions are so very big…"

"Unlike a fairy, you'll learn how to control those big emotions soon enough. We can't have you betraying Emmett to the pirates when he annoys you. Or worse yet, snapping Rosalie's neck when she gets in one of her snits." Edward's words eased the worry I had begun to feel and suddenly we were at the house. He leapt into a window on the second floor of the beautiful chalet style home as easily as if he'd been taking a normal stride. I marveled and couldn't wait to try that myself.

We were in a bedroom, my bedroom. I clapped my hands in delight at the soft green walls, the icy white bedspread with more green in the pillows, shelf upon shelf of books and CDs, a state of the art sound system and there, framed on the desk next to the window, was a picture of my mother. It was the picture I had kept by my bed at home in Forsythe, the only picture of my mother that I had been able to keep in the house. My father had broken, burned or sold every other possession that had been hers or that reminded him of her. Those human memories were dim, vague. I knew they would fade easily if I let them. So I tried to remember all the happy times with my mother as I stared into her smiling face, to keep just those memories from life before the Cullen's. I couldn't even be curious about how or why the picture was here. I didn't want to know what had happened to my father. I was a Cullen now, and he would never touch my body, my heart or my mind again.

"Well thought." Edward kissed my forehead and swung me around before setting me on my feet. I laughed happily, despite the loss of sight. He'd given me a 360 degree view of my room. As long as nothing moved, I'd be able to find my way around easily. I had proven during our hunt that once I had Edward's visual references in my head, I could maneuver fairly well without my sight. It was easier than having to memorize an area in my head by walking around it over and over again. I had super vampire photographic memory now.

"Okay, clothes and a bathroom?"

"Alice laid something out for you on the bed." Edward said quietly and I nodded, remembering the sight against the white bedspread. He then took my hand so that I could see through his eyes and led me into the hall. He showed me to the large bathroom at the end of the hall, and then left me alone for the first time since all this craziness had begun. If I focused, I could hear the murmur of voices below me, as the rest of the family must be gathered in some central area. If I strained, I could even make out the words of their conversations. I didn't doubt they were talking in hissed whispers about me. I didn't strain. I was in a calm place and I wasn't sure if I might hear something I didn't really want to hear. So I walked back to my bedroom and gathered the clothes from the bed, feeling them to be sure I'd got each separate piece. I had a matched set of lacy underthings and what I thought was a silk shirtdress. If I remembered correctly, they were all pale, icy green.

Back in the bathroom, I stripped and fumbled in the shower until I managed to get a flow of water going. The temperature didn't seem to matter, but the water felt delicious on my new skin. I examined every inch of my body with soap covered hands. My new skin was smooth, but it was like satin stretched over granite. There was no real give to my flesh. My skin didn't feel cold either, but I knew it was pale white like Edward's. I would never blush again, never feel my heart racing with excitement or fear or rage. I washed my hair, which felt like soft, fluffy cotton under my extra sensitive fingertips.

My body was the biggest surprise, really. I had been sick for six months, so I knew, had seen through Carlisle's eyes that I was, pathetically thin. Even before I'd been sick, I had never had much meat on my bones. I had expected to feel the almost skeletal, bony. But instead I was slender and tightly toned. By no means muscular, but at least I wouldn't have people teasing me that I looked like a twig with hair.

I finally felt clean and I stepped from the shower, groping for the large towel I knew was on the rack just outside the shower curtain. I pulled it down and hummed softly as I toweled myself dry, more to distract myself from those low, whispered voices now that the water was off. I had caught snippets of the conversations that were going on regardless. They were talking about my education now. I heard someone, a female, suggest that each member of the family could volunteer to teach me a subject of their choosing. I liked the thought of that and pondered it as I slipped into my clothes. I memorized the smell and feel of silk, deciding I liked it very much.

Through all this, I was still working to control my thirst. I managed to keep it pushed aside, into the background, but only barely. But as I tried my best not to focus on the conversations downstairs, I ranged my ears out further. I heard the tiny, fluttering beats of the hearts of birds, the racing hearts of rodents, the heavier thudding of something that might be elk. It sounded a little different, though. Without true, conscious thought, I found myself back in my bedroom and at the window. It was closed against the cool air outside. Not that the cold really bothered me or anyone in my new family, but I could hear the soft stirring of snow against the glass. I leaned my ear against the glass and pushed past the thudding heart. I was still overfull from my gorging not an hour ago, so it wasn't too difficult. And I heard the faint tinkling of…music?

"Leia?" Edward's quiet question caught my attention and I lost the music. I was immediately frustrated and turned. I didn't feel his presence in the room. I heard his chuckle and realized that his voice was odd. It only took a split second to realize it was because it was coming from the rooms below. My frustration fluttered away. He was just checking up on me.

"Yes. I'm sorry about that. Where do you hear music coming from?" His voice was closer now, on the stairs perhaps. By the time I thought about the direction I'd heard the music from, I knew he was in the room with me. I realized it was easy to tell by his scent. I would have to get each of my family to let me memorize their scents unmingled with the others. I didn't think I would ever have to worry about someone sneaking up on me. Come to think of it, few people had ever been able to do that, even when I'd been human.

"That's probably coming from the Denali's place. They live about three miles north of here. Being blind really does sharpen those other senses, the outer awareness of your surroundings, both human and vampire." Edward's observation caused me to smile. If I couldn't see, at least I had super hearing.

"So, do I get to meet everyone now if I promise not to attack anyone?" I had heard Jasper's murmurs of concern below about my volatile newborn temper. I didn't feel volatile, but he seemed to be the expert on newborns. At least the rest of them seemed to defer to him on the subject. I stood with my hands clasped behind my back, facing him I was certain, my head tilted up just slightly hoping I was 'looking' at him.

"Close. Down a couple of inches. I think you're taller than you remember." Edward's voice was slightly amused. From somewhere below, I heard another amused voice mutter something about Alice still being the midget of the family. I heard a delicate snarl and knew that Alice took offense to the title. I giggled softly.

"Emmett, I presume." I made a guess. I heard a guffaw.

"Well, he's definitely no Dr. Livingston." Edward said with a laugh. I giggled again and then I felt Edward move closer to my side and I reached out tentatively. He caught my hand and I was delighted to see again. I let him lead me through the house, moving slowly so that I could memorize each step. The Cullen's home was decorated sparely, but I knew there was a story behind each piece of artwork, every piece of furniture that was placed strategically around the spacious, airy home. He took me on a brief tour, pointing out which rooms belonged to whom and showed me the living areas and even the cold, empty kitchen. He explained that here in the Alaskan wilderness there wasn't much need to keep up a human charade. And finally, he led me into the large dining room. There, seated around a beautiful, dark wood table, was my new family.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: This is an AU story. There might be some borrowed dialogue from Twilight in here somewhere, as it does parallel that book. Please read the full disclaimer on chapter one.

Disclaimer: The Twilight Series belongs to Stephanie Meyer. Mitts off Leia.

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Chapter Four

I snuggled into Esme's arms, not just because I enjoyed the contact, but because by leaning back against her, it was effortless to see what she was seeing. Jasper was hovering in the background, I knew, and I was glad for his presence. I was content now, but yesterday I had leapt on one of the Denali's when they had come for a visit. It had taken Jasper, Emmett and Edward to pull me off of Irina. I wasn't even allowed to apologize, since everyone kept telling me it was Irina's fault for provoking me, a newborn vampire, by insulting Carlisle for his decision to turn me. Evidently she hadn't thought I could hear her hissed accusations, but not even Jasper had been quick enough to soothe me before I had flashed into the window as we'd returned from a hunt and down the stairs to attack.

After that, the Denali's had decided it would be better to wait a while before they came to visit again. I was ashamed of my behavior, despite my family's reassurances. I only had to remember Carlisle's horrified expression through Edward's eyes and I was usually able to curb the rage that sometimes rivaled my thirst when I thought of anyone hurting my new family, even if it was only their feelings. Usually.

I had a new set of bedding in my room and I was still finding feathers around my room from the last time I had 'snapped' just thinking about Irina Denali. Esme had just laughed and said she was grateful it was the bed and not something harder to replace, like the windows. Emmett had jokingly suggested they order me a few extra pillows 'just in case'. I had decided that next time I needed something to rip apart, I was going to visit his room. Rosalie would understand, surely.

For a girl who had often daydreamed about having a loving family, complete with siblings and a family pet, I could truly say my dreams had come true. Except for the family pet, of course. Poor Lassie wouldn't have lasted long at the Cullen's. Judging by the reaction of every animal from elk to insect whenever one of us got close enough to scent or see, Lassie wouldn't have stuck around long enough to get eaten anyway.

The Cullen's seemed thrilled to have someone in the house that was young enough to actually need teaching things. Edward had mentioned that change was exciting for them, and I supposed that after a few decades of the same old, same old, it would be nice to have something new to do. I was overjoyed that educating me seemed to be the something new.

I guess it was true that you could get anything on the internet, since the Cullen's had acquired a small truckload of educational textbooks and lab equipment over the last two weeks. They were taking home schooling to a level that would have blown Laura Ingalls Wilder's mind. Since my ability to see through someone's eyes seemed only to require I be touching them, there was no subject I couldn't learn. I just had to learn to adjust my reactions based on where *I* was instead of where *they* were.

Esme was teaching me math and geometry, while Carlisle was in charge of the sciences. Edward had the fullest load, being in charge of literature, languages and geography. Jasper was handling philosophy and Alice was teaching me art. Rosalie and Emmett were going to teach me 'shop', which Rosalie told me was anything from basic car maintenance to welding. I wasn't sure what I would need to know that kind of thing for, but it sounded like it would be fun to learn.

The whole family would be pitching in to help me learn to fight and to hunt. Since none of them had ever heard of a blind vampire, it was going to be a learning experience for all of us. For someone who had never been able to even dream of things like sports and martial arts, it was the one thing I was both most excited and most worried about. For the rest of my family, hunting was instinctive and each had their own style of fighting that played on their personal strengths.

So, here I sat with Esme as she showed some of her latest blueprints to me. She was showing me the practical uses for the math she would be teaching me. Edward was still drilling me on the difference between Braille numbers and letters and written ones. Most of my textbooks were in Braille, though. I refused to impose on my family so much that I couldn't study without one of them being forced to stare at the course work. One nice thing about my conversion, my mind retained and processed information faster than most humans could dream of. I was literally soaking up everything like a sponge.

"We're moving to Washington in a few years, once you're safe to be around humans. This is the house we'll be building. Nice, isn't it?" Esme seemed to be done with the teaching part, so I smiled up at her and nodded.

"It'll be beautiful. I hope I'm ready soon. Do you think I'll be able to go to school like the others? It'll be boring to sit around at home while everyone else goes to school." Esme chuckled.

"Are you saying I'm boring?"

I was immediately sorry for my choice of words and began to stutter an apology when Esme put her fingers over my lips and shook her head.

"Child, I'm only teasing. I spend my days doing work when the children are at school. I'm not offended, Leia. I get to have you around for several years. We'll both get our fill of each other and be ready for a change of pace." I turned and wrapped my arms around Esme, watching my own face come up to kiss her cheek. I put my hand against her face and felt her smile.

Only three weeks with the Cullen's and I wondered how I had ever survived without them. Of course, they weren't all as loving as Esme and Carlisle. Esme had wrapped me into a hug within moments of our first meeting and Carlisle, well, I had loved him since the moment he had defended my life in the hospital. Of my siblings, Edward I could truly say I loved. He had been with me through the most terrifying and painful times in my life. The adoration I felt for him had no comparison. Oh, yes, I had a terrible case of hero worship. I did my best to try and hide that from my beautiful, mind-reading brother. I doubt I was completely successful but he never mentioned it.

Alice was quickly worming her way into my affections with her determination to be the best big sister a girl ever had. She did indeed find me to be a most excellent doll. I didn't mind playing dressup for her. What teenage girl didn't love a good makeover? We spent hours in my closet, discussing not only clothing but also my dreams. She was going to teach me how to dance, take me snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef and take me to the Louvre in Paris. Among other things. I couldn't help but ask her if she saw me being able to adhere to the vegetarian lifestyle, what with her ability to see the future. She would only tell me it was a very good possibility that I would never 'fall off the wagon' as Emmett called it.

Emmett, I couldn't help but love, despite the fact that I knew he and Jasper were betting on how many humans I would eat when I was allowed out of the Alaskan isolation. He was like a big teddy bear, free with both his teasing and his affection. He could have me in stitches one minute and mortified with embarrassment the next. He reminded me of a frat boy who didn't know whether to treat me like a naïve baby sister or an adult. He never made me feel unwanted though. We were becoming fast friends. Not so with his wife.

Rosalie and I were still a careful around each other, like two girls with nothing in common trying to find common ground to build a friendship on. Of all the Cullen's, she seemed to be having the hardest time accepting me. During a recent hunt with Carlisle, Emmett and Jasper, they had explained that Rosalie wasn't really happy being a vampire herself and if there was any way for her to become human again, she would leave without a backward glance. Emmett said this himself with a hint of sadness. It couldn't be easy to know that the woman you loved would trade you for humanity in a heartbeat. Literally. It made me understand Rosalie's reluctance now. She would never actually tell me this, but she probably thought I should have chosen death over immortality.

Jasper was hard to feel affection for. I was thankful for his presence, but of all the Cullen's, he was the only one that I was still truly shy around. He was quiet and hovered so much I couldn't help but compare him with a guard dog. Whether he was protecting me from myself or the rest of the family from me, he was always on alert. Edward had promised he would come around once he wasn't so worried about me turning into a raging, feral lunatic. Edward had said it in jest during one of our hunts, but I couldn't help but wonder if it wasn't close to the truth.

Jasper himself had told me of his history with the newborn vampire armies in the south. He, of all the Cullen's, was the only one to have lived on the darker side of vampire life for longer than he'd been a vegetarian. He was the darkest of us all, and yet when I saw his love and tenderness for Alice, I knew he would always fight the darkness. If he ever fell back into that way of life, it would tear his wife's unbeating heart to pieces and he would rather have his brothers tear him to pieces than to hurt her. I couldn't hope that I would one day inspire some man to that kind of love. That thought caused a brief moment of despair before Jasper flooded me with a deep sense of calm and quiet. I rolled my eyes and stuck out my tongue at him. He just grinned lazily from his perch on the back of the couch.

Eight months later

"Okay, we're just going to walk down the street. If things get too much, just say so, and we'll grab you." Jasper said quietly. Jasper, Edward, Emmett and myself were in Juneau to give me my first human test. I would have been perfectly happy to stay safe inside the house for the rest of my immortal life at this point. Just this morning, I'd been so excited to be getting out. Not that I was dissatisfied with home life, but I knew until I crossed this hurdle, I would always wonder if I had the strength to be a true Cullen.

"There is no shame in…" Edward trailed off when I barked a very nasty insult at him in my head. In Spanish. He raised an eyebrow, not at me but at Emmett. "You've been teaching her some really ugly words, bro."

"Not my fault she can hear a pin drop from three miles away. Shall we wash her mind out with soap?" Emmett's chuckle made me roll my eyes. I really wasn't capable of amusement at this point, so I just left them standing there and struck out along the sidewalk. It was after midnight, so there was very little traffic, foot or vehicle. There was an all night diner two blocks down the street. If I made it that far, we would actually go into the diner.

With Jasper's view of the street and the darkened shops along the sidewalk firmly in my head, I didn't have any trouble moving along sightless. Over the past several months, I had learned to get about with and without my family's help. I had been blind my entire human life, so I knew how to use a cane to maneuver unfamiliar ground. I didn't even use it around the house or even in the forest closest to the house. I had a map of each tree, rock and hill in my head.

I still had to hunt in pairs with someone else. Whoever was with me would lead me along until I could see whatever we had tracked. Once I had my dinner visualized, I could now finish the hunt on my own. Even if the animal ran, I could track it with my other senses. I hadn't tripped or clipped a tree in almost two months. I was finally hunting every week or two with the family instead of every day or two. We had all just hunted this morning, so I wasn't truly hungry.

As I walked, I could point out every human within a two mile radius by their heartbeat. That wasn't the truly tempting thing. It was the delicious scents that scorched my throat like venom burn, the humans that were close enough that it would only take a few strides to run them down and…hmmm, best not to follow that train of thought to conclusion.

"Yes, let's think of something else. Like what you'd like to order at the diner. Maybe some coffee? Or a soda. You should probably order a soda." My sight returned as Edward strode up beside me and grabbed my hand. I was glad of the distraction. I turned a smile up at him and saw his face reflected in the mirrored surface of my sunglasses. It had been Alice's idea for me to wear the mirrored shades. It was nice to actually see the face that belonged to the eyes I was borrowing occasionally.

I was thrilled to make it to the diner. Jasper was extra tense as we stepped through the door. The jangling bell over the door sounded especially loud to my sensitive ears as we stepped out of the dark street into the well lit, nearly empty diner. At this point, I knew I wasn't the only one having trouble. Jasper might be a lot older than me, but he used to feast on the very thing that he now abstained from. I knew our struggles were the same, but different. At least I didn't have to fight the memory of taste. I just had to deal with the scent and the pain. It was Jasper's hand that I gripped tightly as we stepped forward.

The hostess approached, a teenager in a pair of faded jeans and diner logo t-shirt, and I stopped breathing before her scent intoxicated me beyond my limits. Just the impression of the scent chased by the melody of her beating heart made my eyes roll behind my mirrored glasses. There were suddenly another hand gripping mine and I felt Emmett's hands settle around my waist. The odd, layered multi-vision that resulted broke through the climbing frenzy, forcing me focus on just seeing through one set of eyes.

"Just four?" The hostess, the name on her shirt was Amy, looked positively stunned. Who wouldn't? I knew that I was surrounded by three specimens of ultimate male beauty. Most women would be drooling about now, despite the warning bells that would no doubt be ringing in their heads. Most human beings knew subconsciously that we were dangerous. Nothing in life was as perfect as we were without having some hidden agenda. Edward nodded at her and she led us to a booth near the door, where I found myself sandwiched between Jasper and the wall.

"It's my little sister's sixteenth birthday. We thought we'd have a piece of pie to celebrate." Emmett grinned at the girl and she blinked at him before glancing over at me speculatively. I could see her mind working to decide if I was related to all of the men in the booth or just to Emmett. Then her eyes settled on Edward and I actually saw her lick her lips. I hissed softly, just enough to make her focus change to me. In that moment, something happened that made me forget I was holding my breath. I was no longer seeing through Jasper's eyes. The point of view was coming from…the hostess? I gasped in shock and in that moment of surprise, the taste of her rushing across my tongue and through my nose triggered an unguarded response. I watched through her eyes as my lips pulled back from my teeth in a snarl and I was suddenly crouched on the tabletop, not one water glass or piece of silverware disturbed. The girl didn't even see the transition.

"Oops, maybe we should have made sure sis had her meds before we checked her out of the home," Emmett said, trying to distract the girl, who had stumbled back in horror, her hands clutched around her throat. I could see it in my mirrored glasses. Then I watched as Emmett and Jasper grabbed my arms and stood, lifting me from the table and hurrying me towards the door. It was Edward that stayed to soothe the girl's fears as she hyperventilated. Luckily and amazingly, no one else seemed aware of what had just happened. A few soothing words and a healthy tip had the girl calming down, sure she'd just imagined the fact that I had been poised to leap at her throat. The last thing I saw from the girl's eyes was Edward's back as he sauntered out door.

"Nice, little sis! That was the most fun I've had in a couple of decades." Emmett was chuckling. Jasper actually snorted in amusement on the other side of me. Neither one of them was surprised by my behavior, obviously. I was hovering between being grateful to them for snatching me away from the situation and wanting to smash my fist into Emmett's face. I was still newborn enough that I had some extra strength and I was fairly sure it would hurt him more than it would hurt me.

"Cut it, Emmett, before she breaks your face and her hand." Edward's voice was tight, obviously not amused. His comment certainly amused Emmett, however, because my big brother laughed heartily. Jasper didn't laugh. He tightened his grip on me and I felt a wave of soothing calm rush over me. I gave him a grateful smile. By this time we were back at the car. I found myself bundled into the backseat with Jasper while Edward and Emmett took the front. As Edward threw the car into gear and accelerated away from the city, I shook off Jasper's hand and sank into a soothing darkness.

"Well, that went better than I expected. Well done, Leia. You could have fought us when we took you out of there." Jasper sounded proud. I sighed, a sound that echoed by Edward.

"She probably would have done great, if she hadn't been surprised by a new development in her eye-stealing talent." I let Edward explain it. I was still getting a grip on my instincts. The monster inside me was roaring at the loss of a feast. He explained what had happened in the diner and both Emmett and Jasper were immediately curious.

"She wasn't touching her. How is that possible?" Emmett asked the question I wanted answered. The brothers threw around theories as we sped back towards the house. By the time we got home, I was back in control of myself. I pushed out of the car and reached out to touch Edward just to get my bearings and then I ran into the house.

"Well, I didn't eat anyone." My tone was wry as I announced this. The rest of the family would hear it, wherever they were in the house. Alice was the first down the stairs and she grabbed me in a tight hug.

"I saw. It was a little scary there for a few seconds. I knew you would be okay, though." The rest of the family all came to get the play by play. Of course it was Carlisle that was the most curious about why and how I had seen through poor little Amy's eyes. I put my foot down when they all began planning experiments.

"I'm all for figuring this out, but I almost _ate_ Amy. Can we give this another couple of weeks and then start out small? Please?" To my surprise, it was Jasper that drew me into a hug.

"You really did do great, Leia. You'll do fine and we won't let you snack on anyone, I promise. I do agree with starting small, though. Maybe the Denali's would be willing to help. They have human…friends."

Jasper's suggestion had merit and I relaxed, letting the rest of them discuss the options while I just let my thoughts drift. Only time could tell how this development would affect things in the future. Well, time and Alice, but I hated to bug her about it.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: This is an AU story. There *is* some borrowed dialogue from Twilight in here somewhere, as this chapter is where my story starts to parallel that book. Yes, it's the same storyline, just from a different perspective. Please read the full disclaimer on chapter one.

Warning: POV changes will happen occasionally from here on out.

Disclaimer: The Twilight Series belongs to Stephanie Meyer. Mitts off Leia.

***********************************************************

Chapter Five

"Ugh, no fair playing the blind card again. Little Ben Chaney would be knocked flat if you asked him to the dance." Edward was grinning like he was serious. Emmett was tossing tater tots at me. The movements were too fast for the human eye to really catch of course, so I caught every one of them and flicked them right back. I didn't even need to borrow someone's eyes for that. The last ten years, I had gotten so hyper aware of my surroundings that I could move around as well as any sighted human. People take for granted the value of studying acoustics and air flow. Those things combined with a good sense of smell and I had moving around in the dark down to a science. Granted I couldn't move super fast like my siblings and I would sometimes stumble over uneven ground or clip doorframes in unfamiliar surroundings, but since the humans thought I was legally blind anyway it helped with my charade.

"And not-so-little Angela Weber would claw my eyes out. Gah, and you keep telling me that _I'm_ the blind one." My brothers were trying their hardest to distract me, I knew, and I was glad. We hadn't hunted in almost two weeks. I couldn't remember which one of us had suggested we do yet another experiment with mine and Jasper's self control. One of these days, these stupid experiments were going to backfire on us, like it almost had ten years ago in the diner with Amy. I knew the only way to build self-control was to test the limits, but I shuddered to think what would happen if either myself or Jasper snapped and caught one of these unsuspecting children in a darkened corner of campus….

"Leia." Edward's voice, too low and fast for any human to hear, snapped me out of the little fantasy I was having. I fought a grimace and felt the pulverized remains of a tater tot oozing through my fingers. I sighed and realized that none of us had grabbed any napkins, as usual. Why would we, when we never actually ate our 'prop' food? I wiped the worst of the mess on the edge of my tray and snarled soundlessly at Emmett when he snickered at me. I heard a startled intake of breath from one of the tables beyond me. I quickly smoothed my expression out.

"_Did I scare one of them?"_ My mental question to Edward was frightened. I worried more than the rest of my family about keeping up the façade. I was the only one who was truly enjoying the chance to attend school. It was a new experience for me. The rest of them had done it numerous times and it seemed to bore. Especially Edward.

Edward reached over and touched my shoulder. I saw through his eyes as he looked down at his hands and flashed sign language under the table, super fast. I relaxed when he assured me that the gasp had been in response to something across the cafeteria. He also said that he wasn't bored. I raised an eyebrow behind my mirrored sunglasses and snorted softly.

"_Tell it to someone that doesn't know you. You're so bored you're watching the plaster peel. Maybe you should actually take Emmett's suggestion and offer to do an advice column for the school paper. Dear Edward has a certain ring to it."_

Edward rolled his eyes and then his hand was gone. I grinned and pushed back from the table.

"Where you going, Leia?" Alice's question seemed casual, but I doubted it was.

"I need to wash my hands. It's that or use Emmett's shirt for a napkin." I shrugged, as if it were all the same to me. I heard Emmett shift and knew he was probably planning to launch another tater tot at me. I heard a near inaudible snarl from Jasper, a thud and the skittering sound of food sliding across the table. There were a handful of muffled snickers and giggles from the tables nearest us. I'd have to ask Edward later what Jasper had done to Emmett's tray.

"Um…you might want to go the long way around." Alice's suggestion made me frown. Obviously taking the quick route to the restroom could end badly.

"Thanks, Alice." My quiet words said, I moved away from the table as fast as I dared. I let my senses caress the humans along my path and I caught flickers of whatever was in their line of sight. I didn't need to touch humans to see through their eyes. Carlisle and I had reasoned that it must be because it was so much easier to attune myself to humans than to my own kind. It was automatic for me to orient myself around what for most vampires was considered a food source. Their heartbeats were loud in my ears, the rush of their blood a beacon and their scent intoxicating. I could pick them out individually, easily. My sense of smell was as extraordinary as my hearing so I picked up on even the most subtle differences in bouquet when most vampires, especially younger ones, didn't really notice a difference.

When we had first moved to Forks, Washington two years ago, I hadn't known what to expect. I hadn't been comfortable around people. The first year, the first semester, I hadn't gone to school with the others, staying home and only venturing out on rare occasions with Esme or Carlisle. As the year progressed, I slowly gained confidence that I could handle being around humans. I chose to go to school for the spring semester. Jasper had been my biggest support. Even if it was because he wanted a partner in his suffering, I loved him for it. There was strength in numbers.

The story around school was that I was legally blind, but that I could still see well enough to do the coursework with some extra tutoring at home. I looked too young to be a sophomore like Edward and Alice, but I had been home schooled due to my 'handicap' and had easily passed the tests given by the school system to place me with them. It hadn't been easy, trying to blend in with the humans when my instincts were urging me to lure them off into dark corners. Luckily, I had a healthy conscience and a love for my family that kept me under control. Most of the time. It was the time or two I had nearly given in to the monster that made me especially thankful for Alice's ability to see the future and my brothers' strength.

I had almost ruined things for my family last spring during prom. I had been determined to go, despite the warnings from my family about the crush of people I would be forced to endure. I hadn't thought anything of it...until I got asked to dance. Not once, but multiple times. That wasn't really the problem. I was happy enough to dance, though none of these teenage boys had anything on Edward's graceful ability, and was proud that I hadn't thought too much about the soft necks inches from my teeth. The problem was the fact that a couple of the senior boys thought it would be funny to see if the Cullen's littlest sister wanted more than just a dance.

I doubt they would have had the courage if Edward and Emmett hadn't just left the gym with Jasper between them. Someone had been foolish enough to say something insulting about his and Alice's relationship across the room and it had put him in a fighting mood. So it had just been me, Rosalie and Alice. Rosalie had been brooding by the punchbowl, pretending to be unaware of the gawking stares of nearly every male in the room, attached or unattached. Alice had been too worried about Jasper to be paying much attention to me. I had been worried enough myself not to notice that I was being danced towards the men's locker room.

"_Little Leia Cullen. How about we have a dance all our own?" Mac Kregel leaned down to whisper in my ear and I dragged my attention away from the eyes closest to the door out of the gym. I had been monitoring for one of my brothers to return. When I let my vision snap to Mac's, I realized we were in a dark room with another boy. Roan Temple was Mac's best friend. The pair of them were notorious for being cruel, the typical school bullies. They didn't dare mess with the Cullen boys, but I supposed they couldn't resist messing with their little sister._

"_Not likely, Mac. I'm not that kind of girl." My words were quiet. I could hear their blood rushing too fast, their hearts beating too quick. They were excited. Stupid, stupid boys._

"_That's not what I hear. I hear that it's a regular orgy at the Cullen's every night. How about you show us a little of what goes on." Roan's voice was pitched high in his excitement and I winced. It grated on my nerves. Each breath I took was a scorching flame as their racing blood teased my barely held control. I was determined to handle this myself, to extract myself without breaking them both in half. But they really needed to be taught a lesson. I completely understood Jasper's wrath from earlier and felt a secret glee that Edward and Emmett were not here to pull me away before I channeled that wrath in creative, destructive ways._

"_You couldn't handle what goes on in my home, Roan Temple. Or do you truly have a death wish?" My voice carried with it a hint of menace, an underlying snarl. I saw Roan blink a bit, as if he heard the warning. Mac laughed and his gaze swung back to me. I felt him flinch away from what little he could see of my expression in the dark room. Perhaps they were going to be smart. Then Mac reached up and groped my breast and I felt Roan move closer to me from behind. Okay, maybe not. _

_I heard Alice call my name from the gym, then heard her call for Edward and Emmett. She didn't have to yell. We could all hear her over the slow song being played in the gym. I knew these foolish boys would have a rescue squad here in five to ten seconds. It made me bold. I kneed Mac in the groin and threw a fist back at Roan's face. Both boys fell to the floor, Mac writhing in pain and Roan unconscious. I hadn't put any strength behind my hits, knowing that both boys would be dead if I had. It would have all ended right there if Roan's nose hadn't started bleeding. Emmett had to drag me out of the room screaming and snarling. How appropriate that the song had just ended and it had been fairly quiet in the gym. I would wonder later if everyone at prom had seen me 'hissing and spitting like a wildcat', as Emmett later described it._

I pulled myself out of that memory, glad I couldn't blush because my face would have been burning with shame. Official word was that Edward and Emmett had come to rescue me from Mac and Roan. Edward had assured me that both boys were horrified that they'd been so easily bested by a girl and were perfectly willing to let everyone believe that they'd been beat up by my brothers for trying to steal kisses from me in the locker room. Neither boy went to school officials about the incident nor, of course, were we going to say anything.

After prom, I got the same treatment as the rest of the Cullen clan. I was left carefully alone unless they were forced into contact with me. Edward wouldn't tell me what people thought of me now, but I knew that not everyone believed that it had been Emmett and Edward that had rescued me from Mac and Roan. I saw the speculative glances some of my classmates threw at me and wondered what rumors Mac had spread before he had graduated last year. I know he had seen me crouched over his unconscious friend, drawing my finger through the stream of blood coming from Roan's nose and lifting it to my lips. It was the one and only time I had tasted human blood and it still caused a burning ache, a need in my gut. A need that I fought against with every fiber of my being. Oh yes, I could understand Jasper's tortured suffering, if only a little bit.

I stepped into the restroom and moved to the sink, only fumbling a little as I looked for the taps. My kind didn't really have to use the restroom. Not for the usual reasons, so I wasn't quite as sure of myself here. I didn't want to borrow the eyes of the two girls I sensed here, for fear I would catch them in a compromising situation. By scent, I knew one of them to be Jessica Stanley. I didn't know her well. Edward didn't like her much, so I wasn't inclined to get to know her, either. The other girl wasn't familiar to me. I was fairly sure I had never scented her before. Could this be the new girl that had captured the attention of almost everyone in this small school? Isabella Swan, daughter of Fork's chief of police Charlie Swann, had moved here from Phoenix.

"Oh, hi, Bella. Want to walk to lunch with me?" Jessica's voice was too loud in the echoey room. I winced a little and continued to wash my hands, head down. I waited for the new girl to respond.

"Um, sure." She sounded like she would rather be thrown in a pit with dogs. I could relate. Being the new person at school was always scary. The two of them left the room and I followed them back towards the cafeteria. Hopefully whatever Alice saw happening on the way out was not still a danger on the way back in. I was curious enough about the new girl to head back to our table. She smelled nice, compared to most humans. Something light, hinting at freesia and violets. I borrowed Jessica's eyes and looked at Bella Swan critically. She was pale and pretty, with a wealth of brown hair she wore down. She looked around with wide, chocolate brown eyes that shone with every emotion she was feeling; discomfort, embarrassment and just a vague hint of curiosity. I felt a pang of pity for her.

I began to leap frog through human eyes to make my way back to my seat between Edward and Jasper. Alice had just left the table, moving to dump her tray. I glanced curiously at Jasper through a nearby pair of eyes. Someone was always staring at the Cullen's. I thought his face was a little tighter than usual. Everyone else at the table was staring off into space. Until Edward's head swung towards the table where Bella was sitting.

"Jessica Stanley is giving the new Swan girl all the dirty laundry on the Cullen clan."

_Bella's POV (Yes, this is taken straight from the book, but there are some additions due to the Leia's presence, so I wanted to put it here.)_

They were all looking away - away from each other, away from the other students, away from anything in particular as far as I could tell. As I watched, the small girl rose with her tray - unopened soda, unbitten apple - and walked away with a quick, graceful lope that belonged on a runway. I watched, amazed at her lithe dancer's step, till she dumped her tray and glided through the back door, faster than I would have thought possible. My eyes darted back to the others, who sat unchanging.

Just then, another girl slid into an empty chair at the table. She wasn't too tall or too short, a knit cap pulled over her hair. Dark brown ringlets peeked out from under the bright yellow cap. She was as thin and graceful as the black haired girl that had just left, but she looked younger than all of them. Not any less beautiful, just younger. She had a pair of small, round sunglasses perched on her perfect nose. I vaguely remembered seeing her in the bathroom with Jessica and me earlier. I hadn't looked closely at her there.

"Who are _they_?" I asked the girl from my Spanish class, whose name I'd forgotten. As she looked up to see who I meant - though already knowing, probably, from my tone - suddenly he looked at her, the thinner one, the boyish one, the youngest besides the one that had just arrived, perhaps. He looked at my neighbor for just a fraction of a second, and then his dark eyes flickered to mine. He looked away quickly, more quickly than I could, though in a flush of embarrassment I dropped my eyes at once. In that brief flash of a glance, his face held nothing of interest - it was as if she had called his name, and he'd looked up in involuntary response, already having decided not to answer.

My neighbor giggled in embarrassment, looking at the table like I did.

"That's Edward, Leia and Emmett Cullen, and Rosalie and Jasper Hale. The one who left was Alice Cullen; they all live together with Dr. Cullen and his wife." She said this under her breath.

I glanced sideways at the beautiful boy, who was looking at his tray now, picking a bagel to pieces with long, pale fingers. His mouth was moving very quickly, his perfect lips barely opening. The others still looked away, and yet I felt he was speaking quietly to them.

Strange, unpopular names, I thought. The kinds of names grandparents had. But maybe that was in vogue here - small town names? I finally remembered that my neighbor was called Jessica, a perfectly common name. There were two girls named Jessica in my History class back home.

"They are… very nice-looking." I struggled with the conspicuous understatement.

"Yes!" Jessica agreed with another giggle. "They're all _together _though - Emmett and Rosalie, and Jasper and Alice, I mean. And they _live _together." Her voice held all the shock and condemnation of the small town, I thought critically. But, if I was being honest, I had to admit that even in Phoenix, it would cause gossip.

"Which ones are the Cullens?" I asked. "They don't look related…"

"Oh, they're not. Dr. Cullen is really young, in his twenties or early thirties. They're all adopted. The Hales _are _brother and sister, twins - the blondes - and they're foster children."

"They look a little old for foster children."

"They are now, Jasper and Rosalie are both eighteen, but they've been with Mrs. Cullen since they were eight. She's their aunt or something like that."

"That's really kind of nice - for them to take care of all those kids like that, when they're so young and everything."

"I guess so," Jessica admitted reluctantly, and I got the impression that she didn't like the doctor and his wife for some reason. With the glances she was throwing at their adopted children, I would presume the reason was jealousy. "I think that Mrs. Cullen can't have any kids, though," she added, as if that lessened their kindness.

Throughout all this conversation, my eyes flickered again and again to the table where the strange family sat. They continued to look at the walls and not eat.

"Have they always lived in Forks?" I asked. Surely I would have noticed them on one of my summers here.

"No," she said in a voice that implied it should be obvious, even to a new arrival like me. "They just moved down two years ago from somewhere in Alaska."

I felt a surge of pity, and relief. Pity because, as beautiful as they were, they were outsiders, clearly not accepted. Relief that I wasn't the only newcomer here, and certainly not the most interesting by any standard. As I examined them, one of the Cullen's looked up and met my gaze, this time with evident curiosity in his expression. As I looked swiftly away, it seemed to me that his glance held some kind of unmet expectation.

"Which one is the boy with the reddish brown hair?" I asked. I peeked at him from the corner of my eye, and he was still staring at me, but not gawking like the other students had today - he had a slightly frustrated expression. I looked down again.

"That's Edward. He's gorgeous, of course, but don't waste your time. He doesn't date. Apparently none of the girls here are good-looking enough for him." She sniffed, a clear case of sour grapes. I wondered when he'd turned her down. I bit my lip to hide my smile. Then I glanced at him again. His face was turned away, but I thought his cheek appeared lifted, as if he were smiling, too.

"The girl in the cap?"

"Oh, that's Leia Cullen. She's the little sister, so they all coddle her. She's really weird. She's super smart, skipped a couple of grades. And she's blind, or at least legally blind. She doesn't really have much trouble moving around and she never uses a cane or anything. Always wears those glasses, though, and doesn't look directly at anyone when she talks. It's creepy. Apparently she's got a black belt in Tai Chi or something. Like blind people in the movies, you know? She beat up two seniors last year at the prom, they say."

I saw Edward Cullen's cheek rise a little more, as if someone had said something amusing. Leia was touching his shoulder, her beautiful face marred by a deep frown. I couldn't help be curious what had caused both expressions. After a few more minutes, the five of them left the table together. They all were noticeably graceful - even the blind one. She wasn't even holding onto one of her brothers to help her along. It was unsettling to watch. The one named Edward didn't look at me again.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: This is an AU story. There *is* some borrowed dialogue from Twilight and Midnight Sun in here somewhere. My story parallels B/E's romance. Please read the full disclaimer on chapter one.

Warning: POV changes will occur.

Disclaimer: The Twilight Series belongs to Stephanie Meyer. Mitts off Leia.

***********************************************************

Chapter Six

_Leia's POV_

As I watched the Volvo speed away through Alice's eyes, I felt something inside me break. My dearest brother, my mentor and my best friend, was leaving. As soon as the car was out of sight, Alice tugged on my hand and we ran back towards the house.

"What happened?" I had to know. Alice slowed and tucked me against her side with a sigh.

"He's afraid he might hurt the new girl, Bella Swan. I don't know what's going on, really, but the possibility is there. He'll either leave, or we'll all have to go." Alice's voice shook and I knew then that the vision she'd seen wasn't pretty. Or maybe it was just because it was Edward, whose self control we just took for granted. What was it about the Swan girl that would make him want her so badly it threatened to bring out the monster in him?

"I don't understand." My voice broke and for the first time in ten years, I wished that I could weep. Alice hugged me tightly and kissed my chin.

"Neither do I, little one. Neither do I."

The rest of the evening was torture as we waited for Carlisle to get home. When he did, he had only a little more information than we did.

"She's different for him, her scent, her blood is stronger than anything he's ever been close to. He said he had to leave, or he wouldn't be able to stop himself from...having her." Carlisle's voice was strained. I was sprawled on one of the couches in the room, staring at nothing of course since I wasn't touching anyone.

"He doesn't want us to go with him. She'll be gone in a year or two and he'll come back to us." I heard Esme's halting, dry sobs and I would have gone to her, if I hadn't been frozen in my own grief. I heard the crush of her clothing and knew that someone, probably Carlisle, had hugged her. Perhaps it was silly of me, an immortal, to be so distraught over the thought of a year or two without my brother.

"This is crazy. What's one girl gonna hurt? It wouldn't be the first time..." Emmett trailed off, probably because someone gave him a baleful glare. No, Emmett didn't understand how much it would hurt. Not just the Swan family, but our family. Edward would never forgive himself for taking the life of an innocent. If it was one thing I had learned in my ten years with the Cullen family, it was the way each of them felt about themselves and about human life.

Emmett was the most laid back of us all. He abstained from the normal vampire diet not out of self control, but out of loyalty to his family and love for his wife. He wasn't a complicated soul, but he was very protective of his own. Everything else took a back seat to the safety and love of his family, even the death of innocent human beings.

Edward, however, was Emmett's opposite. He had a deep, complicated soul and he followed the 'vegetarian' lifestyle because he truly believed that human life was worth preserving. Granted Edward had spent time early in his vampire life trying to rationalize the taking of human life by hunting down human monsters. In the end, however, he concluded that taking any human life, even the evil ones, made him into a greater monster than they were. In the ten years I had been a vampire, I had come to believe as he did except for one small detail. He didn't think he had a soul. I still believed as I had the night I had made my decision to become like him.

"It's Edward's decision and we must respect him enough to try and understand it. He was adamant that we leave Bella Swan alone and I promised. So I don't want to hear that any of you have broken my promise. Now, I think we've had enough of our little experiment. Everyone go hunting." Carlisle's voice was stern. There were murmurs of agreement before everyone scattered. I found myself alone on the couch. It was a bitter reminder of the fact that Edward was my usual hunting partner, a fact that everyone seemed to have forgotten.

I made a quick decision then, to go hunting by myself. It wasn't something I did often, but I was familiar enough with the game trails near our home to feel comfortable alone. Even if I did hit a tree or two, it wouldn't bruise anything but my ego. Well, the tree might not survive, but in the wilds around Forks, trees weren't an endangered species. I headed out in the opposite direction from my family, easily locating a small herd of deer not two miles south of the house.

Three deer and two small trees later, I was lamenting the mess I must look. I really did like the dress I was wearing, a pretty red gingham that I had picked out myself. It was torn in two places and more than likely covered in tree sap and heaven knew what else from the forest floor. I climbed a tree and curled up in a hollow, grateful to be completely alone for the first time in a very long time.

As I thought on the reason for Edward's abrupt departure from our lives, I began to get angry. I didn't believe, like Emmett and possibly Jasper, that she should die to convenience our family. I was angry at Edward for running away. He had never been one to back down from a challenge and yet he had fled this one. Okay, so I didn't know all the facts and just the memory of Edward's tortured face through Alice's eyes in the car was enough to cool my temper a bit, but I wanted my brother with me, here, not running off to Denali.

"At least you could have taken me with you." My unhappy words were lost in the quiet forest and I leaned my head back against the tree and tried to think about something, anything else but my own troubles. I didn't want to be a jealous, selfish little sister because I knew if I dwelt on it enough, I would channel all my frustration at Bella Swan. The poor girl would probably never have any idea of the havoc she had wrought on our family just by moving here from Phoenix.

_Six days later_

I was dancing when Alice made her announcement. Esme had designed a small dance studio for me, as part of my room. I had almost half of the top floor to call my own. Of course I wasn't the only one to use it, but it was officially Leia's room. My things were tucked neatly into one corner. I had left the bed behind in Denali in favor of a well padded couch and a half dozen floor pillows. One entire wall was shelves for my books and the sound system. I was choreographing a ballet to some of Edward's compositions. It kept my mind busy and working with his music chased away some of my melancholy. I had an entire act done. I just needed to ask Carlisle to help me out with the paired dances. He had studied ballet sometime in the late eighteen hundreds.

"He's coming home." Those three little words brought a cheer from Emmett and a squeal of delight from me. I heard Esme's joyous laugh and Carlisle's relieved sigh. Jasper and Rosalie didn't make any discernable noises. I danced downstairs on my toes and jumped off the stairs, fully planning to leap into the main room and continue dancing. Instead, I thudded into Jasper, who laughed softly and caught me mid-leap. I threw my arms around his neck and rained soft kisses across his jaw. I heard a mock snarl from Alice.

"Hands off the merchandise, you cheeky girl."

I put one hand on Jasper's face and snuggled into his arms, looking at my sister through his eyes. She was wearing a smile that probably rivaled mine, despite her words, so I stuck out my tongue.

"Hey, girls, no need to fight over me. There's enough to go around, I assure you." I felt his mouth turn into a lazy smile. I patted his cheek and sighed dramatically.

"Alas, I don't share. You'll have to choose." He threw back his head and laughed. I gasped when he threw me through the air. I hated when my brothers decided I was a tossing toy, because the on/off sight thing was a little disorienting. So I wasn't surprised to be caught by another strong pair of arms. I was surprised that it was Carlisle and not Emmett. Through his eyes, I watched Jasper sweep Alice into a dramatic kiss. I sighed.

"Rejected again. I don't know how many times he's going to break my heart, Dad." Carlisle chuckled and held me close for a moment. I enjoyed the contact.

"Not to worry, my girl. The right man will come along some day and he'll sweep you off your feet in the not so physical sense." I tucked my head under his chin and snorted softly.

"I'm afraid I'm ruined for other men. My brothers are all so perfect, every poor soul I come across doesn't hold a candle in comparison." I said this in a teasing tone, but in all honesty it was the truth. It would take an extraordinary soul to turn my head. I had once entertained the thought that perhaps Edward and I were meant to be a couple, but he had very gently disabused the notion before my adoration turned from platonic to romantic. I was a little sad about it, but it would have made him uncomfortable if I had looked at him that way, so I had settled happily into the baby sister role.

"When, Alice." Esme was the one to come out and ask what we were all wanting to. Alice didn't turn her face away from Jasper, but she did give us what we needed to know.

"Sunday morning. In time to go back to school on Monday."

_Sunday evening_

When Edward came home, we all gave him space. Well, all of us except Esme. I guess we were trying to act like nothing had actually happened. Of course, he could read our thoughts so I knew it was a stupid exercise. I wasn't sure what to say to him, myself, so I spent Sunday shut up in my room choreographing. I don't know if he was afraid to come to me or if the whole situation with Bella Swan had really messed up his head so much he didn't realize how much I had missed him.

"I'm going hunting. You coming?" Edward's voice interrupted my latest run through of the scene where the heroine was running through the woods, alone and frightened, looking for someone. I wasn't sure who yet. I paused mid pirouette and frowned. I thought I'd be happier when he finally came to see me, but I guess I was still harboring a great deal of lingering hurt.

"I can hunt by myself." It came out petulant. I winced.

"Ah, okay. Just don't wear your favorite dress next time, Lei. I hear you ruined it." His voice held just a hint of humor. I was going to kill Emmett for telling him. He'd been the only one to see me when I came home from my hunt last week. I hadn't been out again since. The dress was balled up under my couch, where I had thrown it in frustration.

"Yeah well, maybe I'll go naked next time. Give the squirrels the thrill of a lifetime." I growled his at him and then proceeded to ignore him. Maybe he would just go away. I held onto my anger for all of two seconds, until his scent faded from the room. Then I panicked.

_'Don't go away again! I didn't mean it.' _In my haste to run after him, I forgot that I had put a chair in the middle of the floor as a prop. I tripped over it and would have sprawled in the floor but he was there to catch me. He cradled me against his chest and I hid my face in his neck, clutching his shoulders with my fingers. I didn't bother to borrow his eyes. I didn't need to see, I just needed to hold onto him for a while.

"Come hunting with me?" He asked again. I wasn't really hungry, but I would go with him. Who knew how long he would stay for this time. I wanted every moment with him I could get.

"I'll try, Leia. That's all I can promise." His voice was full of confusion and even some anger. I sighed softly as he stepped out my window, jumped onto Jasper and Alice's balcony and then to the ground. As he ran, he slung me around onto his back. I clung to him easily. It had been a while since he'd carried me on the hunt and I decided to enjoy the moment. I did my best to keep my thoughts light and quiet. He had once told me I was better at keeping my thoughts quiet than the rest of the family. Maybe it was because during my months with him as a human I had practiced so hard at it. It seemed to make me easier to be around when he was tired of all the voices floating around him.

"Big cat north-north-east about a mile and a half." I suggested this helpfully, knowing my brother enjoyed the carnivores more than the herbivores or even the omnivores. I knew by the musk along the trail towards its heartbeat that it was a male, so we didn't have to worry about leaving cubs motherless. Edward adjusted his path to intercept and I smiled. Let the others think that my hunting relationship with Edward was only of benefit to me. I was the best long range tracker in the family.

An hour later, Edward had drank more than his fill and I had snacked. We were headed back to the house, this time just hand in hand, when Edward decided to bring up the delicate subject.

"Did she say anything?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I knew exactly what he was talking about. If Edward wasn't around to hear thoughts, I was the next line of defense against the humans who might suspect something wasn't quite human about the Cullen's. I had never been forced to use my extraordinary hearing for that purpose before, so this week had been a learning experience. I could pick out a single voice from the multitude on the campus and focus on it. Everyone in the family had the talent to a certain extent, but I was best at it and my range was easily three times theirs.

"Don't play coy, Lei. I know you've been watching her like a hawk since I left. You have a class with her and Alice said she had to head you off a couple of times from approaching her." His tone was heavy with sarcasm and I shrugged.

"All in the line of duty. Know thine adversaries and all that crap."

"She's been spreading rumors, then?" He sounded resigned, as if he'd been expecting that. I laughed.

"No, not a peep. Don't know why you're asking me, since you'll know the minute you get back to school tomorrow." He was quiet for moment before sighing.

"Not really. I can't hear her."

I was shocked. Did he really mean he couldn't read her mind? I sensed his nod from the way his vision tilted up and down. Well, this was a new development.

"Can you see through her eyes?" His question was hesitant. I nodded myself.

"She likes classic Austen, actually pays attention in class and she keeps her eyes on the ground a lot. She's shy, I think. She always checks our table in the cafeteria first thing and relaxes when you aren't there." I said this last softly. I felt him stiffen beside me.

"So she did notice." His voice was distressed, almost sad.

"What exactly did she notice?" I still wasn't sure what had happened between the two of them that would cause Edward such grief. Obviously he hadn't tried to bite her or anything too terrible or she wouldn't have kept silent about it.

"She's my lab partner in Biology." He said it like it was the worst torture in the world. And perhaps it was. What would I do if I had one of them next to me, my worst temptation ever? I couldn't really imagine it. Okay, maybe Roan last year. I could still taste the tang of his blood on my tongue, could still feel the rage when I had been pulled away before I could feast. I pushed it down viciously. Maybe I should have another deer or three.

"Imagine sitting beside Roan, bleeding, for an hour." I shuddered and could appreciate his self-control all the more. I had lasted all of five seconds, and luckily Emmett had only taken four to pull me away.

"Can you switch classes?" He snorted softly.

"Tried that. Almost had Ms. Cope convinced when _she_ came into the office. But really, I refuse to take the easy road. I'm going to face this problem head on and conquer it." He sounded determined, but I knew what would happen if he failed. Either he would leave again…

"Or I'll become the real monster and we'll all be forced to leave again."

I squeezed his hand and leaned up on impulse to kiss his cheek.

"I believe in you, Edward."

"Thanks, Lei."


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: This is an AU story. There *is* some borrowed dialogue from Twilight and Midnight Sun in here somewhere. My story parallels B/E's romance. Please read the full disclaimer on chapter one.

Warning: POV changes will occur.

Disclaimer: The Twilight Series belongs to Stephanie Meyer. Mitts off Leia.

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Chapter Seven

"Ha!" Emmett's voice was triumphant. Edward was glaring at him with slush in his hair and sliding off his shoulders. I couldn't help but giggle from my perch next to Alice on top of one of the picnic tables. It had snowed and we were taking advantage of the light layer of slush just like the humans. Even Alice and Rosalie had flung a few snowballs themselves. I was hiding a couple of handfuls of slush myself. Edward was so distracted that Jasper and Emmett were bombarding him with ice that he wasn't quick enough to avoid. Not that any of us could move as fast as we normally would. Not with human witnesses.

Jasper's back was turned to Emmett at the moment and I flicked one of my snowballs at him. It smacked him in the back of the neck and slid down his shirt. He whirled fast, really too fast, and raised an eyebrow at Emmett, whose innocent expression for once wasn't an act. I chuckled evilly and all eyes swung towards me, even Edward's and I squeaked when I became the subject of scrutiny. By the time we had to move into the cafeteria, we all had slush in our hair and down our shirts. The only good thing about our frosty body temperature is that it didn't melt on contact. I shook a good bit of it off my clothes before we went inside. I was in high spirits until we were in the hall. The rest of the family suddenly went into protect mode.

"Oh come on, guys. She's still halfway across campus." I muttered this under my breath so that the humans couldn't hear. I preceded my family into the cafeteria and grabbed a tray while Alice analyzed Bella's approach. I was seated before they had even made it halfway through the line. I watched in amusement as the line backed up several feet behind Emmett.

I thought about the girl I sat across the room from in geography and couldn't make myself see her as a threat. Edward was stronger than that. He was just stating that as they sat down and Alice seemed to focus back on the present, beginning to believe it too. I sat back with a smug smile and let my senses roam out of the cafeteria, down the hall and out into the slush. I located Bella's distinctive heartbeat easily and borrowed her eyes. She was holding something in front of her face...a binder? I chuckled softly. I let my other-vision bounce around a bit and saw that there were slush balls flying everywhere. Too bad Alice saw that the snow would be gone before lunch was over.

Other than my siblings deciding to bring the snowball fight indoors, lunch was tense and tedious. Better than the previous weeks when everyone stared at the walls in boredom, but by the time we left the cafeteria, I was more than ready to get to Trig. My classroom was just across the hall from biology and I was going to be shamelessly spying on my brother and his lab partner. Edward flicked my ear on his way by and I stuck out my tongue at him. I skipped down the hall, ignoring the threats he muttered under his breath.

"_I love you too much to let you do this alone. The minute I think I'm intruding, I'll mind my own business." _

"Likely story." I heard his final mutter easily and I grinned to myself as I settled into my seat. We were having a test today, so I didn't have to pay a lot of attention. I ranged my vision out and found Bella's. She was doodling on her notebook. I heard very clearly when Edward pulled out his chair, but her eyes stayed focused on the pattern she was drawing.

"Hello," Edward said.

Bella looked up quickly to see Edward sitting as far away from her as the desk allowed. I tried to see Edward as a human girl would. His hair was dripping wet and disheveled, but he still looked like a male hair model. His face was friendly, open, a slight smile on his lips. But his eyes were careful. He was tense and frustrated, but he was hiding it well.

"My name is Edward Cullen," he continued. "I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Bella Swan."

"H-how do you know my name?" She stammered.

He laughed quietly. I felt Bella's heart flutter just a bit and remembered the first time I'd heard Edward laugh. Yes, it was enchanting.

"Oh, I think everyone knows your name. The whole town's been waiting for you to arrive."

"No," Bella continued. "I meant, why did you call me Bella?"

I winced. _Good job, Mr. Brilliant_. I knew he would catch that thought. I watched a flicker of annoyance in his eyes, something that he quickly covered with confusion.

"Do you prefer Isabella?"

I had to smother a giggle at his attempt at saving his gaffe. The rustle of paper in front of me reminded me that I needed to take my test from the girl in front of me, Angela Weber, as they were passed back. I spent a few seconds viewing the first few questions through Angela Weber's eyes and began writing in my answers. It wasn't a problem to multitask with my vampire brain.

"No, I like Bella," Bella was saying. "But I think Charlie - I mean my dad - must call me Isabella behind my back - that's what everyone here seems to know me as." I couldn't help a smile at that. Carlisle had mentioned that Charlie Swan was thrilled that his daughter was back in town. It had been the buzz around school for two weeks before she'd actually gotten here, so I could believe that.

"Oh." Edward's lackluster answer seemed to halt the conversation and Mr. Banner, the science teacher, began to talk about the lab. Alice and I had done the same lab this morning, so it wasn't interesting. I sighed in frustration and concentrated on my test for the moment. I praised my lucky stars that Esme was such a good teacher. Split concentration made it hard to focus on difficult calculations, vampire brain or not.

"Ladies first, partner?" I heard Edward ask. Bella looked up to see him smiling a crooked smile. Bella stared at him silently for a long moment and her heart fluttered again. _Laying it on a little thick aren't you? Don't frighten the girl. _I was actually teasing. I knew good and well it wasn't fear that made Bella's heartbeat change when Edward smiled at her like that. Doubtful I'd convince him of that.

"Or I could start, if you wish." Bella saw his smile fade. He wasn't happy with either option, fear or fascination, obviously. I snorted quietly, making my next desk neighbor glance at me curiously. I flashed Ben Chaney a smile and heard _his_ heart flutter. Oops. I bent back over my test, as I always did when I was supposed to be reading something, eyes about an inch from the paper. I didn't bother to pretend to try to 'see' what I was writing.

"No, I'll go ahead," Bella said. I sensed the blood flowing into her face. Oh dear, she was blushing. She looked away from Edward so I couldn't see his face to see how he reacting to Bella's blush. I quickly bounced around the room until I found someone that was watching them. Edward seemed okay, a little tense perhaps. I went back to seeing through Bella's eyes. She snapped the first slide into place under the microscope and adjusted the objective. She studied the slide briefly and said confidently, "Prophase."

"Do you mind if I look?" he asked as Bella began to remove the slide. His hand caught hers and Bella jerked her fingers away as if shocked. I winced. Curse of the cold hands strikes again; another of those little hints for humans that we weren't safe to be around.

"I'm sorry," Edward muttered, pulling his hand back immediately. However, he continued to reach for the microscope. I snorted softly when he gave the slide a cursory look and seconded Bella's earlier answer. "Prophase."

Bella watched as he wrote it neatly in the first space on the worksheet. He swiftly switched out the first slide for the second, and then glanced at it cursorily.

"Anaphase," he murmured, writing it down as he spoke.

"May I?" Bella's voice sounded indifferent, but I could almost sense the tense set of her shoulders. _Good girl. Don't let him run over you. So much for being courteous, you moron. _Edward smirked, whether at my mental smack or Bella's request, I didn't know. He pushed the microscope towards Bella. She looked and then sighed, holding out her hand.

Slide three?"

Edward handed it to her, without touching her this time. _Good idea_. Bella took a quick look and spoke correctly.

"Interphase." She passed him the microscope before he could ask for it and he double checked before writing it down. I watched as Bella looked at Edward's clear, elegant script and I grinned wryly. _You should try to be untidy sometimes. It would go a long way into making you seem human. _As they finished up the lab, I went on to page two of my test, borrowing Angela's eyes to see the questions and gauge how much blank paper I had for calculations. I tried not to notice hers. I was perfectly capable of doing my own course work and hated the thought of cheating by accident. I should probably use another student's paper to judge by, someone that didn't usually get correct answers, but Angela was the only one on page two already.

As I went on to the third and final page, Bella glanced up to see Edward staring with a look of frustration in his eyes. _Poor thing, not being able to read her mind. _I was surprised, however, at how long and hard Bella looked at Edward. Most humans couldn't stand an intense vampire gaze unless we were intentionally trying to snare someone. We Cullen's didn't do that often. Bella was staring into Edward's eyes, which were a lovely shade of gold after his glut on blood yesterday.

"Did you get contacts?" She asked abruptly.

He answered too quickly, despite the puzzled furrow in his brow. "No."

_Wrong! The correct answer would be yes! Your eyes were black last week. Time to teach you the delicate art of thinking before you speak.  
_

"Oh," Bella mumbled. "I thought there was something different about your eyes." Edward shrugged, and looked away. I could tell by the set of his shoulders he was coiled tighter than a spring. I heard my pencil snap under my fingers and grumbled before getting up to go sharpen it. I watched as Bella glanced down at Edward's hands. They were clenched into hard fists. Mr. Banner came to their table to glance at their completed lab, and then stared more intently to check the answers.

"So, Edward, didn't you think Isabella should get a chance with the microscope?" Mr. Banner asked.

"Bella," Edward corrected. "Actually, she identified three of the five."

_Better, but you're still out a gazillion points for the last bobble. _

Mr. Banner looked at Bella with a skeptical expression. I switched my vision to Mr. Banner and watched Bella blush as the teacher quizzed her about her previous biology lab experience. _Watch yourself. She's obviously smart and a lot more observant than you give her credit for. _Bella went back to doodling when the teacher walked away and I went back to my Trig test, only listening with half an ear as Edward made small talk about the weather, then started quizzing Bella about why she'd moved to Phoenix.

"She stayed with me at first, but she missed him. It made her unhappy… so I decided it was time to spend some quality time with Charlie." Bella's explanation about why she hadn't stayed with her mother and her new husband was quiet, sad.

"But now you're unhappy," Edward stated.

"And?" Bella challenged. I was impressed. Here was a girl that cared more for her mother's happiness than her own. _Are you sure she's a teenager and not some alien from the planet Xenon or something? Wow. _I didn't think Edward was paying attention to my thoughts at the moment. I noticed his posture, his expression through Bella's eyes. He was intrigued on top of the confusion and frustration from earlier.

"That doesn't seem fair." Edward said, as if he thought that Bella _should_ care more about herself than her unseen, elusive mother. Edward was forced to listen to the selfish soap opera that was human nature all day, every day. Most teenagers were not capable of putting their parents' needs ahead of their own and Edward saw that reinforced in the minds all around him. He sometimes forgot that all humans were not alike. Here was one of the different ones. _I think I might like her._

Bella laughed darkly. "Hasn't anyone ever told you? Life isn't fair."

"I believe I _have _heard that somewhere before," Edward agreed dryly.

"So that's all," Bella said. Edward's head tilted a bit and he wore his thoughtful expression.

"You put on a good show," he said slowly. "But I'd be willing to bet that you're suffering more than you let anyone see."

Bella looked away from him and I bounced my vision until I could see her face. She wore a grimace.

"Am I wrong?"

Bella was silent. I was sure I wore a grimace of my own. _Don't push_.

"I didn't think so," he murmured smugly.

_Moron_. _You're supposed to make her think you aren't the big bad wolf, not psychoanalyze her. Why can't you let it go? _

"Why does it matter to _you_?" Oh, Bella uncannily echoed my own train of thought and the irritated tone I'm sure was rolling off my mind-voice at Edward.

"That's a very good question," he muttered, so quietly that I wondered if he was talking to me or Bella. He went quiet after that and I breathed a sigh of relief. Only one more question on my test. I began to work through it as Bella stared at the blackboard with a sigh.

"Am I annoying you?" Edward asked after another moment. He sounded amused. I snapped my pencil in half again. There wasn't much left to it now. I was surprised out of my irritation when Ben Chaney shifted and rustled through his backpack. I borrowed Mr. Varner's eyes to see him holding out a pencil to me. I tilted my head and smiled a thank you. I missed part of Bella's response to Edward's question during the exchange.

"...so easy to read - my mother always calls me her open book."

"On the contrary, I find you very difficult to read." Edward's comment was sincere and I couldn't help but smile at his words.

"You must be a good reader then," Bella replied.

"Usually." He flashed her a brilliant smile, a toothy one that was usually reserved for warning off too curious humans. Bella looked away from him rather quickly so I switched points of view. She didn't look startled or frightened. She looked...bewildered. She tossed her hair in an attempt, I suppose, to shield her face from Edward. I knew, however, that this would only send her scent slamming into Edward. I watched as my brother leaned away from Bella and gripped under the table. His jaw was clenched, in a way that I had often seen Jasper wear when he was at his limit. I rushed through my final question as I kept an eye on my brother through the eyes of the rest of the class and rushed my test to the front of the room. I dropped Ben's pencil on his desk with a whispered thank you and hurried into the hall. I hovered by the door of the Biology classroom, waiting.

When the bell finally rang, Edward rushed from the classroom too fast, too graceful for someone human. He didn't even acknowledge my presence on his whirlwind rush to Spanish with Emmett. I snorted softly and followed at a more sedate pace, as was suitable for a blind person in a crowded hallway. I had independent study this hour instead of gym, which I usually did in the library. In point of fact, all I had to do was check in with Ms. Goff and then I had a free hour. I was supposed to be studying Italian, but I already knew the language so it wasn't like I was going to fail the tests that Ms. Goff gave me every two weeks. I pondered whether or not to spend the hour in the car listening to a CD.

I patted Emmett on the head as I walked past his and Edward's desks so I could see Edward. His face was tortured and his eyes kept flickering to Emmett. I figured they were having a conversation.

"Not helping, Emmett." I heard Edward say, too low of course for human ears, as I dropped my hand, proving my theory. I walked up to sign Ms. Goff's rolebook for the hour and then walked out again, not bothering to use borrowed sight. I didn't really need it, not usually. There had been occasions in the past where Emmett would stick out his foot to try and trip me on the way by, but he'd stopped doing that when I threatened to carve Rosalie's name into the back of his head with my fingernails. Tripping me at home was one thing, when I could use my reflexes to try and save a fall. At school when I had to be careful how fast I moved was a different story. One time sprawled on the floor to the sound of snickering had been quite enough.

I heard Edward groan and then pardon himself to a concerned Ms. Goff before he rushed from the classroom. I felt the wind of his passing and would have followed if Ms. Goff hadn't sent Emmett after him. I was torn, wanting to rush after my brothers and see what was wrong, but I didn't think Edward wanted an audience for his suffering. I also knew he would probably head straight for the car if he was skipping class. I grimaced and reversed my steps, heading for the library.

The next day started out alright. Alice had found me another dress just like the one I had ruined and I was so excited that I decided to wear it today. Of course I had to borrow a sweater from Alice to go with it because it was too cold out for a human to be wearing a sleeveless dress. I noticed that Alice seemed sad, distracted. She just shook her head when I asked what was wrong. She stayed that way during the ride to school. I hadn't spoken to Edward since yesterday at school and I noted that he seemed just as sad and distracted as Alice. Only there was an underlying excitement there, as if he were anticipating something. I knew what _that_ was. He wanted to see Bella Swan again. Maybe I was the only one that saw it, but the whole mystery aspect was working for her. Or against her, depending on how you looked at the bigger picture.

When we got to school, it was still early. I was actually hoping to talk to Alice, but Edward leaned against the car waiting, if I wasn't mistaken for Bella to show up, and Alice stayed with him. I sighed and waited for a human to be heading in the direction of my first class before I moved. It was icy today and I didn't dare walk without looking. I might be able to walk lighter than a human, but even vampires could slip on a patch of ice if they weren't careful. And as the self proclaimed clumsiest vampire on record, I wasn't taking any chances. I heard Edward chuckle softly and I turned my face in his direction and aimed a glare at him.

I knew Bella was almost to school. I heard her truck. Frankly, anyone human or vampire heard Bella's truck. I smiled. It was almost funny how such a seemingly delicate girl drove that monstrosity. I thought it was awesome, even if the rest of my family thought it was a nuisance. Kudos to whoever had kept the thing running all these years, but it really needed a major overhaul. I wasn't nearly the kind of mechanic that Rosalie was, but I had the impish urge to offer Bella my services in fixing up her old truck so that it ran with a satisfying growl rather than a rattling roar.

I kept waiting for Edward to hiss at me for such thoughts, but there was nothing. He must be ignoring my thoughts on purpose. Or he was really distracted. I stretched out and borrowed the eyes of a passing senior. Edward was watching Bella getting out of her truck and he wore a smile. I reached out and touched Alice on the sleeve, wanting to get a clearer than human view of this smile. It was like the one he wore when he was watching me play fight with Emmett, an amused smile that said he was waiting for me to realize I was out of my league and was about to get pinned to the floor. Which used to happen a lot. I was getting better at beating Emmett at his games. But what was Edward waiting for now? Bella to slip on the ice and fall?

I felt Alice stiffen under my hand a split second before she gasped. "No!" I had no idea what was happening, since Alice's gaze was now unfocused and tilted downward. I grabbed for the nearest human eyes when I heard the sound of a vehicle skidding on the ice. I saw Tyler Crowley's van wrap itself around Bella's truck, shudder, tilt and then crash to the ground. The explosion of glass was loud in my ears as I clutched Alice's shoulder.

"Bella!" I echoed the screams that were being yelled around the parking lot. I was frozen, but Alice's vision cleared so I could see that Edward...was not standing beside us anymore. In that moment, I knew exactly where he was. My concern shifted from Bella's health to the fact that Edward might very well have exposed our family to inescapable scrutiny.

"Bella? Are you alright?" Edward's voice, coming from somewhere between the two vehicles, confirmed my fears. Alice grabbed my fingers and pulled me towards the closest school building.

Later that evening

I hadn't gone to school today. Alice had been kind enough to drive me home, where I had curled into a ball to wait for the rest of the family to get home. Esme came and sat with me on my couch for a while, but she was as silent as I was. There wasn't really a lot to say that Alice hadn't told her. Nothing that couldn't wait for this evening's chat. I knew it was coming and I was sick to my stomach over the whole affair. Alice had told me on the way home the possible futures she saw now and none of them were good. The most prominent of which was Jasper going to 'take care' of the girl. Alice was worried because she saw Edward there, in all of her visions, trying to block his attack.

So here I was, knowing that this all might come down to my brothers fighting over a human girl. The thought of either of them being hurt, worse at the hand of the other, was unbearable. But I realized something that most of the others didn't. Edward would fight to the death for Bella. Perhaps Alice knew, but she was keeping quiet about it. Bella had become something more than just a temptation, more than just another human, to Edward. She was a mystery, a curiosity and most probably an obsession. She frustrated him, challenged him in ways he hadn't been challenged in decades. Maybe it was just the romantic in me, but I would bet my favorite dress that Edward was falling in love with Bella Swan.

I didn't move when I heard the Mercedes, nor when I heard the Volvo. I was debating my approach to all this. I heard Carlisle call for me a few minutes later and I knew I didn't have a choice. My mind was awhirl with the horror of my brothers fighting and I let that sit at the front of my conscious. I didn't think Edward was ready for my revelation just yet. I would save it for an opportune moment, if I thought it would change an outcome neither Edward nor myself could live with - Bella's death.

I walked into the dining room and moved to the head of the table where I knew Carlisle was sitting. I put my hand on his shoulder and stood behind his chair. This was my place, in support of whatever decision Carlisle might make. I knew he would never condone Bella's death so I knew I was safe here. I saw through his eyes that Rosalie and Emmett were on the other end of the table, with Jasper leaning against the wall behind them. I grimaced at the obvious line drawn between them and the rest of us.

The argument began as soon as Edward opened the table with an apology. He was apologizing for putting us in danger by showing Bella some of his more extraordinary talents, but it was clear he would not apologize for saving Bella. I listened to Rosalie's angry demands and Jasper's calm determination, heard Carlisle shut down Rosalie's demands with his usual, perfect family centered logic and then finally watched as Edward issued his ultimatum to Jasper. He would not allow Jasper to harm Bella. Luckily, Alice shut down Jasper down with a simple request.

"I'm going to love her someday, Jazz. I'll be very put out if you don't let her be."

At that point, once Jasper's determination didn't block Alice's ability to see the rest of Bella's future, she was able to announce proudly that Bella wasn't going to say anything. I relaxed. My worst fear had been bypassed. Now I was listening to Edward have a conversation with Alice - one of those really frustrating ones that would have gotten Edward thrown into a straightjacket if he'd still been human.

"No!" Edward threw back his chair and stared at Alice in horror. I was stunned. What did Alice see that had him so horrified?

"It's solidifying. Every minute you're more decided. There're only two ways left for her. It's one or the other Edward." Alice was whispering, as if she hated herself for seeing one or both of these ways.

"No…I have to leave." Edward's denial was quiet and Emmett, of all people, was the one to tell him how stupid that was. I hated seeing my brother in pain, for this was obviously painful for him, but I agreed with Emmett and I thought that very loudly. Not that Alice saw him being able to leave.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Edward dropped his head into his hands and groan. Then he whispered incredulously, "Love her, _too_?"

Alice had beaten me to punch line, evidently. At least I didn't have to be so careful about thinking it around Edward. Rosalie finally explained what was going on to her husband, her temper obviously boiling at the thought. I was a little shocked by the depth of her distress.

"Pay attention! Alice sees him falling for a human! How classically Edward!"

Edward didn't deny it, but I knew he was fighting the future with every fiber of his being. Alice only saw him killing her or turning her into one of us. He was determined to find a solution that saved both Bella's life and in his own eyes, her soul. I really hoped that whatever his solution was, it wouldn't change the one thing that Alice had seen that I was really excited about.

"…_she's my friend. Well she's going to be. And you should see her with Leia! The two of them are going to be inseparable."_


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: This is an AU story. There *is* some borrowed dialogue from Twilight and Midnight Sun in here somewhere. My story parallels B/E's romance. Please read the full disclaimer on chapter one.

Warning: POV changes will occur.

Disclaimer: The Twilight Series belongs to Stephanie Meyer. Mitts off Leia.

***********************************************************

Chapter Eight

"What did you do!" Edward grabbed my arm and came close to slamming me against the side of the building. I winced as I felt the building shudder minutely. Edward had never touched me with less than gentle hands, knowing what he did of my human past. It didn't hurt me physically of course, but I hid my emotional anguish deep beneath a layer of anger.

"If you are referring to my geography project partner, I had nothing to do with it. Go tell Mrs. Slocum that I can't be Bella Swan's partner. I'd love to hear you come up with a plausible explanation for that." I growled this at him and twisted my arm away from him, stalking off. I was so angry at Edward Cullen I wanted to smash his head against something really hard. For the last month, he had completely ignored Bella Swan and had ordered us to do the same thing. Alice was disappointed, stating that Edward had managed to snarl up her visions of the future again. Well, good for Edward. But somehow I felt as if I had lost a lifelong friend in the process, a girl that I barely knew.

What hurt even worse than losing a could-have-been friend was the fact that I had lost my brother too. Beyond barking orders and sitting with us at lunch, I never saw him. He disappeared after school every night and rarely came back until time to go back to school the next morning. I knew he left because he was hurting and confused, so that made it even harder. I was beginning to think it would have been better for all of us if he had just stayed in Denali for two years.

"Lei, I'm sorry." Edward had followed me and shock actually made me stop and turn towards him. I felt him touch my face and I struggled to keep the anger foremost in my mind. I couldn't do this with him without falling apart. Just fourteen more months of torture for all of us, until graduation next year. Then it would be over.

"I'll see you at lunch, Edward." I whispered this and escaped his touch, stumbling just a bit on a piece of uneven concrete before I found a safe pair of human eyes to lead me to my class. One hour later, I was following another pair of eyes to lunch when I heard a quiet voice to my left. I knew the scent well.

"Hi, Leia. I'm Bella Swan, we're in geography together?" I turned just a bit, borrowing her eyes and moving towards the wall to get out of the general flow of traffic. Bella followed me. I watched my face light up in a welcoming smile through her eyes. Yes, Edward be damned, I was going to treat the girl with some respect for her feelings.

"Hi, Bella. No, I know who you are. We've got a geography project together." I switched my views to the sophomores coming out of the cafeteria so I could see Bella's face. She looked surprised and then hopeful.

"Could we, maybe, talk about it at lunch? I'd like to get started on it." I thought about that and decided it was probably for the best. The only other options, my place or hers, were off limits. At least with Edward being so anal about any of us being alone with her.

"Sure. We should probably get a quiet table, though, if we're going to talk about the project." Bella agreed readily with that and we walked into the cafeteria together. I got my usual 'prop' food, a bowl of fruit, and a can of soda. Bella seemed unsure of her choices, so I left her behind to go settle at the end of a nearly empty table. I bounced my sight around until I found someone looking at my family and saw them all looking at me with varying amounts of surprise and annoyance. Alice muttered under her breath, explaining to them about the geography project. Edward looked murderous.

_It's here or I invite myself to her house. Or better yet, our place. _I thought this loudly and watched Edward's scowl deepen. I snorted and sat down. Bella slid into place across from me with a sandwich and a bottle of lemonade. She looked a little guilty, her gaze sliding towards my family's table.

"I'm sorry I took you away from your family." Her voice was hesitant. She was shy and I could only imagine how much shyer of me she might be after everything she'd heard and what she personally knew about my brother. Shy, but brave.

"Trust me when I say it's a nice change." I said this with a light laugh but my gut twisted with the truth of that statement. I never thought the day would come that I would prefer human company to my family, especially Edward. "I just hope your friends don't mind me borrowing you for class work."

Bella glanced towards the table where her friends sat. They were all staring and whispering. Bella couldn't hear their surprised comments, but I could. I was glad when Angela Weber told them that we had a class project. That seemed to quiet the chatter. After that, Bella and I talked about our assignment. I had to remember to pretend to sip my soda occasionally and pick at my fruit.

"So, can I ask you a personal question?"

"You can ask." I rolled a grape around in my bowl and shrugged. I left that open ended and I'm sure she understood the 'but I don't have to answer' tacked on. I felt Edward's gaze boring a hole in my neck. Bella nodded and fiddled with the top off her lemonade.

"You're legally blind, right?" Ah, this was part of the charade, the cover story. Safe enough ground.

"Yes." I smiled. I wondered if it bothered her that I never looked directly at her when I spoke, or that I wore dark glasses indoors.

"But you see well enough to go to a regular school. That's good." Bella sounded unsure, her face turned downwards. I picked up a grape and flicked it back over my shoulder so fast that no one in the cafeteria except my family would see it. Of course Emmett felt it when it squashed against his nose. I couldn't suppress a smile. I already had another grape in my fingers.

"I can see well enough to get around but honestly without someone else's help, I wouldn't have a chance. I prefer Braille to the written word. My mom tutors me at home." Not a lie in the whole speech. "Not to worry though. Geography is my favorite subject. I have some great maps at home that are made for the blind. It will be fun doing this project with you. I've always wanted to go to Italy."

I felt the soft thud of something against the back of my head and reached back to brush if off. I grimaced softly when I smelled the tomato. A couple of quick swipes got the worst of it out of my hair. I had actually remembered napkins this time. Lessons learned the hard way. I quickly wiped my hands. Bella glanced up curiously. She didn't say anything, so I played the good little blind girl and didn't explain.

"Um, okay. So, same time, same place tomorrow? Maybe you can bring one of your maps. That would be a great addition to the presentation we'll have to give. Bonus points." Bella sounded excited about that and I grinned toothily, just to see what her reaction would be. She didn't flinch. In fact, her smile grew wider.

"I like bonus points. I'll see you in geography tomorrow. Maybe we can sit together?" Bella quickly agreed, glancing quickly at Edward and then back again. I thought I saw frustration in her eyes and…was that sadness? I couldn't be very sure. I realized that the eyes I was borrowing hadn't looked away from Bella much in the last few minutes. I borrowed a pair next to them and realized it was Mike Newton. I rolled my eyes behind my glasses. That boy had a serious crush on Bella. I wondered how Edward would react if Bella ever gave the boy any hint that she was interested.

Two hours later, I slid into the Volvo with the rest of my family. Two things were out of place today. One, Edward had backed out and was holding up traffic in the parking lot. Bella's truck was right behind Edward's car and Tyler Crowley was currently asking Bella to the girl's choice dance. I borrowed Tyler's eyes and noted the horrified look on her face when he announced they still had prom. Tyler turned away and I went back to seeing nothing. Stupid arrogant boy, I thought to myself.

I'd listened all day as poor Bella had fended off not one, but three boys asking her to ask them to the girl's choice dance. I was a little smug to know she had turned them all down, claiming she was going to be in Seattle that weekend. I was a little possessive of Bella's love life, since I knew in my heart that she belonged to my brother. If only he would get over himself and realize that. Which brought me to the second thing that was out of place. Edward was laughing, actually shaking with amusement. How long had it been since I'd seen him laughing? It lightened my heart.

"_I really hope you're laughing at that stupid boy and not at poor Bella, Edward. She's had a long day. Four rejections in two hours is rough."_

That seemed to amuse him more. "Four? Did I miss one?"

"_Oh, you probably only count the three she dished out. It's the one she got that you so easily forget." _I remembered clearly his little 'We shouldn't be friends' speech in biology. On the heels of my mental comment, Rosalie hissed at Edward to stop being an idiot. Behind us, Bella revved her truck's engine and I turned a bit in the back seat and waved as Edward stepped on the accelerator.

I was tucked tightly between Jasper and Rosalie, so I could see my siblings pretty easily. Alice was looking very pleased over something in the front seat.

"So, does this mean I can talk to her now?" Alice's question was hopeful. It seemed to kill the rest of Edward's humor, though.

"No."

"That's not fair! Leia gets to talk to her. What am I waiting for?"

"That's because Leia's a spoiled brat. I expect you to be more mature about it." I stuck my tongue out at him and he snorted softly before he continued. "I haven't decided anything, Alice."

"Whatever, Edward." Alice's smug comment made me realize something. Edward must be done with his 'ignore Bella' phase. His apology for being rude that went along with the 'we shouldn't be friends' speech this afternoon had been a clue, but if Alice was seeing herself as Bella's friend again, surely he was coming around. I wondered if that had anything to do with our project or everything to do with the recent run of boys on Bella's affections.

When we reached the house, Edward jumped out as he had so often recently and headed off alone.

"Enjoy your run." Rosalie's smug comment followed after him. Rose was the only one in the family that was content with the ignore Bella plan. I felt my hope fall a bit at her words. Maybe today was just a blip in the ignore Bella plan. I sighed and Alice gathered me close, whispering in my ear so that only I could hear.

"Don't worry. He's just going hunting." I relaxed and skipped into the house, going to pull out some of my nicer maps to take with me to school tomorrow.

The next day started out on a sour note. Edward didn't get home in time to go to school with us. Alice didn't seem concerned, but I was worried. She had said he'd only gone hunting last night. What had kept him out until sun up? As I shuffled into first period Biology with Alice, my attention was still in the parking lot, borrowing other eyes. I was relieved when I saw Edward, standing next to Bella's truck and they were...chatting?! My surprise was interrupted when Alice cursed softly and did something shocking. She tripped me.

"Play hurt." My shock melted into concern when Alice hissed this under her breath. I didn't bother trying to catch myself. I let myself fall and deliberately cracked my head against the floor. Not too hard or the tile floor would have crumbled. I went limp and listened to a few concerned voices as Alice leaned down over me. I heard her call for Emmett, who was across the hall in Calculus.

"Oh my, is she unconscious?" The science teacher sounded flustered. Alice, perhaps the best actor in the family, answered in a choked up voice.

"I'm not sure. I think she hit her head really hard." I sensed Emmett as he sauntered into the room and then knelt down to pick me up. He cradled me gently and murmured in concern to Alice. She reassured him and then told Mr. Banner that they needed to take me home to Carlisle. In the background, I heard one of the students whisper to another that maybe, like in the movies, the knock on my head would heal my blindness. I moaned to hide a bubble of laughter and Mr. Banner seemed relieved that I was coming around. Emmett and Alice hurried me down the hall and out the door. As soon as they had me safely in the car, Emmett went back inside. I sat up as Alice drove out of the school parking lot.

"What was that all about?" I was irritated. What was so important that we needed out of Biology? Aliced sighed.

"They're blood typing today. I'm sorry, I was focused so hard on Edward and Bella that I didn't notice. Nice job, though. If I didn't know that knocking our kind unconscious is next to impossible, I would have been frantic. That performance will get you out of school all day at least. Maybe even tomorrow if you want." I thanked her sarcastically and then shuddered. Just the thought of all those droplets of blood, the smell of them wafting across the room, made me faint with hunger. We were supposed to go hunting tonight. Maybe I'd talk Esme into an early trip, just the two of us.

"I'm going to miss my lunch date with Bella! We're supposed to talk about our project." I realized this as we pulled into our long driveway.

Alice grinned happily. "Not to worry. I'll make it a point to let her know. Personally."

I couldn't help a wry chuckle at that. Edward was going to be livid.

The rest of the day, Esme and I ran across the river and hunted. It was nice to spend some time alone with her. We chatted about school and played in the river for a while. By the time we got back, the others should have already been home. I wondered what was keeping them as I shucked out of my damp jeans and pulled on my leotard and a gauzy skirt. I was tying the ribbons on my toe shoes when they finally drove up. I flashed down the stairs, intent on finding Alice to ask her if Bella had been angry with me for missing our lunch meeting.

"Well, if it isn't the invalid. For someone whose head was busted, you're looking chipper." Jasper teased me as he and Alice met me on the stairs. Jasper caught me around the waist and held me against him so that my feet dangled off the floor. I leaned my head on his shoulder and sighed softly. I was so glad that my brothers weren't shy with their affection. After the kind of human childhood I'd had, hugs and kisses were a precious commodity that I couldn't get enough of. I missed my playful, thoughtful and loving Edward and it hurt me that he was shutting us out. Okay, I was hurting because he had shut _me_ out. I really was the spoiled brat he'd labeled me the day before and I felt horrible for it. Jasper must have sensed my mood, because he kissed my hair.

"Love you, little sister." His murmur was for my ears only and I smiled. Through his eyes, I watched as Alice slipped a piece of paper out of her pocket and held it out to me with a dazzling smile. I took it and saw that it was a phone number. Alice winked at me and danced around to her computer to start working on some fashion design project or another. I was in high spirits when Jasper released me to go back to the chess game he and Emmett were playing against the windows. I heard someone flop on the couch and the television came on, the channels flipping insanely. Rosalie was still in a snit, obviously. Then I heard the piano bench creak softly and I realized that Edward was in the house. I fled up the stairs, horrified that I hadn't been trying to shield my thoughts as I usually did.

I ran to my sound system, grabbing my specially fitted wireless headphones, ready to turn on something to drown out all sound if Edward decided to play something melancholy. He hadn't touched the piano since before Bella had moved to Forks and I could only imagine what might have driven him back to his most creative form of communication. To my surprise and delight, he started playing something I'd never heard before, so it was probably a new composition. I relaxed. I doubted he was paying any attention to my angst-riddled thoughts while he was composing. I danced around my room to the melody. I heard him tell Esme it was a lullaby.

As Edward worked through the composition with Alice helping out with her beautiful voice, I hummed along. The song did come to a sad ending. Someone who didn't know Edward's music might not know how much his emotions tied into every note, but I thought that anyone hearing this song would feel an aching loss by the end. There was a pause downstairs and I sighed softly and sprawled on my couch. I heard soft laughter and playful songs like Heart and Soul and Chopsticks and I longed to be downstairs. But something held me here, on this couch.

Edward played through Esme's favorite song then and I was up dancing again. When I was dancing, I could lose myself in the story told through music and intricate movement. Edward had suggested that next time we moved, I should really think about studying dance. In another five or ten years, I was hoping to be comfortable enough with my self control to do just that. After graduation, though, I was planning to spend some time traveling. All my siblings had promised to take me to a different spot on my wish list. Emmett and Rosalie were taking me to Africa, Alice and Jasper were taking me to Europe, and Carlisle and Esme were taking me to South America. Edward had promised me Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.

I registered when the music changed into something joyful and breathless. This was something Edward had written for me, not a year ago. My heart ached as I leapt and twirled through a complicated pattern that had been made just for this song. There was pause in the music and I heard Esme's voice calling for me to come and dance for them. I finally left my room and moved slowly down the stairs. I paused at the bottom and smiled wryly.

"I wouldn't want to dance through Emmett and Jasper's game, mom. I remember the last time I did that. Emmett pouted for days." I heard Jasper's laughter and grinned. Emmett growled.

"I don't pout. I glower. I was winning that game before you knocked all the pieces to kingdom come, little mouse." I shook my head and rolled my eyes. I moved into the room, towards Esme. I knew she stood behind Edward at the piano. I slid my arms around her waist from behind and hugged her. She was looking over her shoulder down at me. I aimed a smile at her face and then kissed her cheek. She then looked over at where Emmett and Jasper were putting away their game. I was surprised.

"You don't have to do that, guys." I felt guilty for saying anything now. Esme just patted my head.

"They can play that silly game any time. Dance for us, Leia. You haven't danced for us in a long while." Her voice held a note of reprimand, but I knew it wasn't aimed at me. I only danced in the great room when Edward played for me. I sighed softly and pulled away from Esme, only to have my hand caught by Edward's.

"Dance for us, Lei, please?" His request was quiet, pleading. I nodded, relenting. _For Esme_. I was rewarded by her delighted laughter and couldn't resist a smile in return. I watched Jasper and Emmett shove the furniture out of the way through Edward's eyes. Edward didn't let go of my hand when they were done. I tilted my head down at Edward so I could see his face reflected in my glasses. He wore a look of sorrow as he reached up and touched my face, brushing my cheek with his fingers.

"Sorry I've been such a self centered bastard lately, Lei. This is all so difficult to deal with, but I shouldn't be taking it out on you, any of you." The words were whispered low, but I knew the rest of the family would no doubt have heard them. They were all sprawled on various surfaces, their faces all showing various levels of anticipation and pretending not to hear. Even Rosalie, who had been in the garage, was leaned against the kitchen doorway.

_It's okay, Edward. I know you've got bigger problems to deal with than a spoiled, lonely sister. I miss you, but I'll get over myself. I just hope you know I'm here if you need me._

Edward looked down at his hands and flashed our special sign language.

_You are not spoiled. You are the brightest light in this family. When the rest of us are bored or lonely or sad, you always manage to make us smile. Problem is, who does that for you?_

I couldn't censor my response, since it was so automatic. _You._

"Oh, Leia." He drew me into a fierce hug and I clung to him for a moment. He released me and chuckled softly. "Go, dance, before Esme starts pouting. We'll talk later."


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: This is an AU story. There *is* some borrowed dialogue from Twilight and Midnight Sun in here somewhere. My story parallels B/E's romance. Please read the full disclaimer on chapter one.

Warning: POV changes will occur.

Note: For the sake of storyline, the day Bella and the girls head to Port Angeles for dress shopping, the weather is overcast again by the time school lets out. Hey, it's AU. I can tweak to my heart's delight. *evil smile*

Disclaimer: The Twilight Series belongs to Stephanie Meyer. Mitts off Leia.

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Chapter Nine

Bella's POV

I watched Leia Cullen lean over and kiss Carlisle's cheek before jumping out of the car. She pulled her backpack over one shoulder and then made her way very carefully up my walk. I ran down the stairs so that I could meet her at the door. The sun had just set on a rather nice, sunny day and Charlie had just gotten in from work. He was watching a game on the TV with a plate of leftovers from last night. I poked my head in to tell him that Leia was here and he just grunted and lifted his fork in acknowledgement. I rolled my eyes and got to the door just as Leia was knocking.

I had been thrilled to get a call from Leia last night. Granted not as thrilled as I would have been if it had been Edward calling, but I really was glad to hear she was okay. Rumors around school had her running the spectrum from comatose to healed of her blindness. Edward's sister Alice had assured me she was fine, but I had been happy to hear it from the girl herself. I could relate to poor Leia. I had knocked myself out from falling a couple of times, too.

After my weekend, I had been anxious to see Edward again. Unfortunately, he hadn't been at school either Monday or today. When I had invited Leia to come last night, I had really expected to see her at school today. I was going to ask her about that. I had good reason, so it wouldn't just sound nosy. After my weekend, I was even more curious about the Cullen's. Were they really vampires?

"Hi, I'm so glad you came. Come on in."

"Thank you for inviting me. I really am excited about our project." Leia smiled shyly, her gaze pointed at the wall behind my head and not at my face. I noticed she hadn't moved beyond the front mat.

"Do you want to take my arm? I can give you a tour of first floor." Leia's smile became relieved and she nodded. She put her hand on my sleeve, letting it rest there without gripping or anything. I could feel the chill through the fabric but I didn't pull away. I walked with her towards the living room. She didn't shuffle or step hesitantly at all, trusting me not to run her into a wall. Then again, I knew she could see at least a little. Maybe she could tell where the walls were.

"Dad, this is Leia Cullen." I expected him to grunt and nod, but to my surprise he muted the game and stood, coming over to meet her.

"Hello, Leia. I'm glad to see Bella has made a new friend. What are you two doing tonight? Something about a school project?" I had to keep my jaw from dropping. Charlie was making conversation? Leia patted my arm gently and responded enthusiastically.

"Hello, Chief Swan. Thank you for having me over. I'm glad to have a new friend as well. We're doing a project on Italy. It will be so much fun." She swung her face towards my dad and looked almost directly into his eyes. I saw my dad take in the sunglasses she wore and the hand on my arm as if he were just processing the fact that she really was blind.

"Well, you two have fun. Let me know if you need anything. When is your dad picking you up?" He glanced towards the door as if Carlisle Cullen might knock at any moment.

"Oh, my brother will be picking me up. Dad has a shift at the hospital so he dropped me off." That seemed to satisfy Charlie, but it made my heart skip.

"Edward?" I tried to make the question as casual as possible but there a knowing smile on Leia's lips as I led her towards the kitchen.

"Yes, Edward." She tilted her head as if listening to something. I blushed and quickly changed the subject. The last thing I wanted to do was let her know how interested I was in Edward.

"Well, this is the kitchen and that's the dining room. Not much to see, really. Want to spread out in the dining room or go up to my room?" Her brow furrowed.

"Will we disturb your dad here? It would be easier to spread out the maps down here." She reached back and touched her backpack. I grinned.

"It'll take a bomb going off to distract him from his game now. Let me go get my things and I'll be right back." I ran up the stairs to get my geography notebook and the two books on Italy I had checked out of the library at school. I took a couple of deep breaths and then ran back downstairs. Leia hadn't moved an inch, other than the curious tilt to her head, like she was listening to something again.

I pulled out a chair for her and then sat myself. She sat carefully, her movements graceful. I felt a flash of envy. I knew she had her clumsy moments. Her accident in Biology had proven that, but she still seemed so aware of her surroundings and her grace was almost painful for a clumsy person to watch. I sighed softly and opened one of the books. We got down to the business at hand.

An hour and a half later, I was as excited about Italy as Leia was and we had most of our report outlined and our presentation scripted. I was handling the heavy writing and Leia was going to get some video and a board put together for us. We both giggled over the fact that she was the one handling the visual aspect of our report.

"So, why weren't you at school today? Is your head still bothering you?" I finally asked the question that I'd wanted to ask since she'd walked through the door. She shrugged.

"No, my head's fine. Ditching can be healthy sometimes." She seemed so nonchalant about it and I blinked. She hadn't seemed like the type to take school lightly.

"You sound just like your brother." I said wryly after a moment's silence. She laughed, a soft musical sound that danced around the room.

"Well, I learned from the best. It's not that I don't like school. When the rest of them ditch, it's a little hard for me to come to school by myself. The thought of me driving is enough to scare anyone off the road." I joined in her laughter, but her comment brought up another question.

"I thought they were all out on a hiking trip?" Leia shrugged again and zipped up her backpack. I waited for her to elaborate but she didn't. I grimaced and tried another question.

"So, you'll be at school tomorrow?" Leia shook her head with a sigh.

"Probably not. Definitely back on Wednesday, though. Maybe we can meet up at lunch again." Then she frowned and looked annoyed. "Unless my brother decides to steal you again."

I couldn't lie, the thought that he might made my heart race and my face heat up again. Leia was grinning again and I wondered at that. She'd been annoyed just a moment ago.

"Do you…mind? If he steals me?"

"No, I don't mind that, really. It's just I get the feeling that if he's there, I won't get a word in edge-wise. He's as curious about you as I am…more so, really." Leia giggled again, as if at some private joke. I felt my hope grow. So Edward was interested in me and his little sister didn't seem to mind. I smiled happily. Maybe becoming friends with Leia would be a good thing.

"Well, if he's planning on it, maybe you could come with my friends and me to Port Angeles tomorrow after school. They're hunting dresses for the dance next weekend." I didn't think Jessica would mind and I knew that Angela wouldn't. Leia looked shocked that I had asked her, though. Her shock quickly melted into joy.

"Oh, I'd love to come! I'll have to ask though."

"Sure. We'll be leaving straight after school though. We could come pick you up at your house." She looked horrified at that idea. "Or you could meet me here and we could pick you up." That seemed like a better idea, because she relaxed and nodded.

"I'll ask when I get home and call and let you know if I can come. Maybe you should call Jessica and make sure it's okay if I come, though." Her comment was quiet. It occurred to me to be surprised she knew I was going with Jessica, but maybe it was just an assumption because she knew who my friends were.

"Okay." About that time, Leia's cell phone rang. She had one of those phones that played songs for ringtones. Clever, I suppose, since she couldn't really see her Caller ID. The song playing now was a piano piece, something joyfully upbeat. I was disappointed when it only rang for about fifteen seconds and then stopped. I mentally reminded myself to ask her what tune that was sometime as she hopped up from her chair.

"Edward's here. Walk me to the car?" I jumped at the chance and poked my head in to tell Charlie that Leia was leaving. He surprised me again by muting the game and giving Leia a smile and a pleasant goodbye. She waved at him and we walked to the front door. Leia didn't seem to need any help walking now, as if once through the house was enough to make her comfortable with the layout. I even watched her step over the threshold of the living room without hesitating and then watched her maneuver the steps off the porch with perfect grace. I shook my head in amazement.

Leia touched my arm gently when we reached the silver Volvo and smiled, directly into my eyes I thought, despite her glasses.

"I had a good time, Bella. I'm hoping we'll be great friends. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow." I glanced over at the dark window of the Volvo when it rolled down. I couldn't really see much of Edward's face in the darkness.

"Get in, Leia." His beautiful voice held a hint of anger and I was surprised. I felt Leia tense beside me and I had the sudden urge to step between her and her brother. It was an irrational urge. I knew from watching and from gossip that Leia Cullen was treated like a princess by all of her brothers.

"Hello, Edward." I addressed him quietly as Leia moved around the car, her hand on the hood as if using it as a guide. She didn't hesitate getting into the car, but she did slam the door. Maybe they had argued recently.

"Hello, Bella. Good to see you again. Did you two have fun?" The anger had melted from his voice and I couldn't help but smile.

"We did. You're sister is cool." He snorted softly at my words but didn't contradict them.

"See you on Wednesday, Bella." And then the car was gone. His words had been a promise and I couldn't help but read into them. Surely he meant more than just Biology class. I walked back into the house with a dreamy smile. And then I tripped over the threshold that Leia had so gracefully stepped over earlier, barely catching myself before I fell. What a typical ending to a rather atypical day, I thought with sarcasm.

Leia's POV

I walked next to Bella and watched through her eyes as Angela and Jessica chatted on the other side of Bella. I was having a little trouble today with my self-control. Edward had warned me that the car ride would be hard, but I had been sure he was exaggerating. It had hit me hard about halfway to Port Angeles that Bella was the only human that I had ever spent time with intentionally. Yes, they were all around me in school, but it was fairly open space and I able to concentrate on other things. I was used to the burning thirst, right? Right, and Jessica Stanley hadn't been about two minutes from being dinner before we'd left the car.

It had been like pulling teeth to get permission to go with Bella and her friends dress shopping. I had won the argument by pointing out that I had spent two hours with Bella and her father without any trouble. The light burn in my throat was nothing compared to my enjoyment of Bella's company. Granted Edward had been on the roof the whole time, monitoring me and hissing comments from time to time, but I had handled myself well. Between that and Alice's insistence that I wouldn't do anything tonight, they had let me come. I knew that Edward was somewhere nearby, monitoring us though.

_If you say I told you so when I see you, I'm going to rip your throat out. _I thought that at Edward and tried to focus on the conversation. My only consolation was that he had been forced to drive sedately behind Jessica's car all the way to Port Angeles. He hated driving slow.

Jessica and Angela had both spoken to me when we'd first gotten into the car, Angela politely and Jessica asking a few very nosy questions that I managed to sidestep. I thought Bella had been a little annoyed with Jessica too, because she had changed the subject to Mike. Jessica had been happy to forget me and talk endlessly about her recent date with Mike Newton.

Both of Bella's friends were careful around me, despite Angela's politeness and Jessica's nosiness. I noticed how they unconsciously moved any time I was at their backs and how Jessica had thrown little furtive glances at me in her rearview mirror in the car. I couldn't help but grin. They got the subtle signals all vampires gave off, the ones Bella seemed oblivious to. She was happily tugging me along with her, being my guide today.

"Didn't you ever go with a boyfriend or something?" Jess asked dubiously as we walked through the front doors of another store. Ah, we were discussing Bella's love life. Edward would be listening closely now.

"Really, I've never had a boyfriend or anything close. I didn't go out much." Bella's response seemed to shock Jessica.

"Why not?" Jessica demanded.

"No one asked me," Bella said with a shrug. Jessica looked skeptical.

"People ask you out here," she reminded her, "and you tell them no." We were in the juniors' section now, and the other girls were scanning the racks for dress-up clothes.

"Well, except for Tyler," Angela amended quietly. I was surprised. I borrowed Angela's eyes. Bella looked as surprised as I knew I must.

"Excuse me? What did you say?" Bella's voice came out in a gasp.

"Tyler told everyone he's taking you to prom," Jessica informed Bella with suspicious eyes. I remembered then, the scene at Bella's truck last week. What had Tyler said? _We still have prom. _I watched as Bella's face turned a delicate shade of purple with fascination. Wow.

"He said _what _?" She sounded like she was choking. I giggled softly and she glared at me.

"I told you it wasn't true," Angela murmured to Jessica.

"That's why Lauren doesn't like you," Jessica giggled while she and Angela pawed through the clothes. I heard Bella grind her teeth.

"Do you think that if I ran him over with my truck he would stop feeling guilty about the accident? That he might give up on making amends and call it even?"

"Maybe," Jess snickered. I couldn't help a laugh.

"_If _that's why he's doing this." I murmured this near Bella's ear. She wore a sour expression now. She really did seem completely unaware of the appeal she seemed to have to every human male in Forks. And at least one not-so-human one.

The dress selection wasn't large, but both Angela and Jessica found a few things to try on. I sat with Bella just inside the dressing room, by the three-way mirror, trying to teach her a few choice insults in Italian. She was very angry at Tyler at the moment and I was happy to give her some things to yell at him next time she saw him.

I got a smile or two out Bella, which was my intention, and then Jessica and Angela were done. We headed over to the shoes and accessories. With a sister like Alice, I wasn't able to just stand there and completely ignore the concept of shopping. So as I mentally tagged a couple of things I actually wanted, I made all three girl's laugh by offering my own advice, grabbing random things and making Bella try them on. I deliberately chose things that would look ridiculous on her. I was supposed to be too blind to have a fashion sense.

When we moved to the registers to check out, all three girls were surprised to find that I had purchases of my own. I pretended not to notice their stares and used their hesitation to check out first. I also ignored the tiny gasp from Jessica when I handed the clerk a shiny black credit card. The clerk seemed a little nervous when she looked at it and then at me. I didn't even wait for her to ask for identification. Alice had warned me to take my passport in case someone got jittery over the card. The clerk relaxed and rung up my shawl, new purse and two necklaces. Alice would be disappointed by my meager haul.

We planned to go to dinner at a little Italian restaurant on the boardwalk, but the dress shopping hadn't taken as long as we'd expected. Jessica and Angela were going to take their clothes back to the car and then walk down to the bay. Bella mentioned something about looking for a bookstore and I eagerly agreed to look with her. The other girls didn't seem too hard to convince to go off by themselves. They were still nervous around me. We told them we'd meet them later and they walked off to the car chattering happily while we headed in the direction Jessica had mentioned there was a bookstore.

We had no trouble finding the bookstore, but it wasn't what Bella was looking for. The windows were full of crystals, dream-catchers, and books about spiritual healing. We didn't even go inside.

"Surely there is a normal bookstore somewhere in this town." Bella sounded a little annoyed.

"I wish I could help you, Bella, but I get all my books off the internet. Most bookstores don't carry Braille. Edward knows Port Angeles like the back of his hand but I've never been myself." I said this quietly. She patted my arm.

"I guess this must be the most boring thing in the world to do, look for a bookstore where you'll be bored senseless while I get lost looking for reading material." She sounded apologetic. I laughed softly.

"Bella, I came today because I wanted to be around you. I can appreciate someone's company without needing constant chatter. Maybe we can look for a nice Italian to English dictionary for you. I've decided you need to learn Italian." That made Bella laugh as we wandered through the streets, which were filling up with end-of-the-workday traffic. I sensed she wanted to ask me some serious questions so I kept quiet and let her decide what to ask.

"So, Edward offered to drive me to Seattle on Saturday." I nodded. Edward had mentioned that to me. I had been thrilled at his initiative until today. I knew how hard it was for me in a car with three humans that didn't hold any special appeal for me. How much harder would it be for him with this girl that was his ultimate temptation?

"I was really surprised. One day he's ignoring me like I'm a plague and the next he says he can't stay away from me. Honestly, Leia, his mood swings are giving me whiplash. Is he always this erratic?" Bella's question made me snort softly.

"No, not usually. He's been a little…preoccupied lately." I answered her truthfully. She sighed softly.

"I don't suppose that would have anything to do with me? Just a little, maybe, at all?" Now why in the name of little green apples did she sound hopeful about that? I knew Edward would kill me if I answered this one honestly. So I hedged.

"A little, I think, maybe."

"Ah, is he worried that I'll tell someone what I saw when he saved me from Tyler's van?" I could tell she was hoping that wasn't the case. I was shocked she was being so blunt with her questions, though. I thought over my answer to this one and decided that I could answer it without giving her more information that she already had. Other than the fact that I knew exactly what she was talking about, which might be more than Edward wanted. Well, he could strangle me later.

"No, he doesn't worry about that anymore. I know he hasn't said it, Bella, but thank you for…not saying. I know he's been crazy rude to you and he doesn't deserve the consideration." Bella hugged my arm to her side and I blinked in shock, holding my breath against the sudden surge in my thirst.

"He saved my life, Leia. That deserves a lot of consideration. If he decides to ignore me completely again, I might just get really mad at him, though." Her voice was laced with sarcasm. I would have laughed if I'd had enough air to do so. She loosened her hold on my arm and I stepped away from her for a moment to draw a breath. Okay, under control again.

"So, see anything promising?" I asked this as I realized the crowds had thinned. There weren't a lot of people around now. Of course I could hear cars in the distance on the main road to the north.

"Hmm…I think we might have stumbled into a warehouse area or something. Sorry. We need to head back north, I guess." As we rounded a corner, I sensed a group of four men up ahead. As we neared them, I caught snatches of their conversation. Their jokes were definitely off color and I felt my lip curl as they approached us. I felt Bella stiffen beside me and studied them through her eyes. I didn't like the look of them and obviously Bella didn't either. She scooted as far to the inside of the sidewalk as she could and I fell in behind her to give them room as Bella tugged me swiftly along.

"Hey, there!" One of them called as we passed them. Bella glanced up automatically. Two of them had paused, the other two were slowing. The closest, a heavyset, dark-haired man in his early twenties, seemed to be the one who had spoken. He was wearing a flannel shirt open over a dirty t-shirt, cutoff jeans, and sandals. He took half a step toward us.

"Hello," Bella mumbled. I groaned softly. Talking to them was not a good idea. I very gently pushed her from behind, hurrying her towards the next corner. I could hear the men laughing at full volume behind us.

"Hey, wait girls!" One of them called after us again, but Bella kept her head down as I pushed and we rounded the corner. I heard Bella sigh in relief. I could still hear them chortling behind me.

"Disgusting." She muttered under her breath and I agreed.

"Creepy and disgusting." I kept my ears open, listening to the men. I realized after a moment that they were planning to herd us towards an empty lot. I was shocked. These men were planning to 'have fun' with us. I grimaced, angry that I wasn't familiar enough with the area to suggest a direction to Bella.

"Um, we should probably try to get back to the main street." Did my voice sound nervous. Bella's pace hurried and I followed quickly. We tried a couple of streets, hoping they would lead us back to a populated area, but each turn seemed to be a worse one. I listened to the men cutting us off from behind and realized we were heading right where they wanted us to.

"Not good, not good." I muttered this about the time Bella realized we were being followed. I felt her heart rate speed up. We kept our pace steady, the men behind us falling ever so slightly farther behind with every step. Bella's heart slowed a little, probably thinking it was just her imagination. She looked up and saw two cars going north past the intersection we were heading for, and exhaled in relief. As we skipped around the corner, I heard her grateful sigh before she skidded to a stop and her heart thudded. The other two men from the group were waiting for us.

"Cross the street." I cursed softly as she did what I said. I followed her slowly, walking backwards. I didn't even bother to pretend I couldn't see. I didn't want these men to think I was more vulnerable than the typical fifteen year old girl. _Edward, I don't know if I can handle this without some serious exposure big brother. How much of an education do you want Bella to get? Move it!_

"There you are!" The booming voice of the stocky, dark-haired man shattered the intense quiet and made Bella jump behind me.

"Yeah," a voice called loudly from behind us. "We just took a little detour."

The two pairs of men were closing us in now. Bella sucked in a breath behind me, against the wall. She was building up to a good scream but I knew from ranging my senses out that there was no human close enough to hear it. The thickset man shrugged away from the wall on the other side of the street and walked towards us.

"Stay away from us," Bella tried to move in front of me, her voice dry and soft. I felt a surge of admiration for this brave girl who was going to try and protect me. I shook my head at her and whispered in her ear.

"Stand here and keep your eyes open, Bella. Don't worry. They aren't going to hurt us." I felt Bella stiffen in…shock? I felt her nod, though. I turned my body back towards the men, letting Bella be my eyes. They were all four coming towards us now.

"Don't be like that, sugar," the heavy one called, and I snarled, dropping into a hunting crouch. That brought them all up short for a split second, before they all roared with laughter.

"We've got a feisty one, boys." The leader snorted and moved the last few feet in my direction. I heard the Volvo then. Edward would be here in about thirty seconds. I reached down, slowly so they wouldn't miss the action, to the sidewalk and dug my fingers into the concrete like it was soft cheese, breaking out a large chunk. The laughing stopped and the leader back pedaled in shock.

_Disable only, disable only, disable only_. I was chanting that to myself as I threw my rock with enough force to crush a human head. I didn't aim for the head though; I hit the heavyset one in the leg hard enough that even Bella heard the snap over the man's howl as he went down. The other three men scattered like rats deserting a sinking ship just as Edward's car rocketed around the corner and skidded to a screeching halt. He nearly hit the man lying on the ground writhing in pain…and bleeding. He had a nasty compound fracture. I snarled and leapt. Edward was already there in front of me. I only vaguely heard him shout for Bella to get in the car as he wrestled with me.

"Leia. I need you here, now. I can't leave Bella alone. Comeon, Leia, please." He was pleading with me as I snarled and hissed. The smell of blood was heavy in my nostrils, pushing my instincts to do the natural thing. To finish off my prey. I howled once and then stopped breathing, going limp against Edward. He put his head against my hair and held me tightly as I struggled with myself, against myself.

"Are you okay to be in the car?" His voice was tight with anger, fear and self-loathing. Of course he would blame himself for this. _Stupid Edward. _I used my anger at his self-blame to push aside my need. He seemed to sense that I had control of myself and he opened the backdoor and laid me across the backseat. I curled up with my face against the seat, still not breathing, and put my arms over my head.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: This is an AU story. There *is* some borrowed dialogue from Twilight and Midnight Sun in here somewhere. My story parallels B/E's romance. Please read the full disclaimer on chapter one.

Warning: POV changes will occur.

Disclaimer: The Twilight Series belongs to Stephanie Meyer. Mitts off Leia.

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Chapter Ten

"Put on your seat belt," Edward commanded, obviously talking to Bella. I heard the snap as the belt connected loudly. The car took a sharp left, racing forward. There was a moment of quiet before Bella broke it.

"Is she okay?" Her voice was hoarse.

"She will be," he replied to her curtly, and his tone was livid.

"Are you okay?" Her question was almost inaudible.

"No." Edward's voice broke on the word and I ached for him.

The car came to an abrupt stop and I knew he had driven us out of town. I didn't move.

"Bella?" Edward asked, his voice tight, controlled.

"Yes?" Her voice was still rough and she cleared her throat quietly.

"Are you all right?" He asked her.

"Yes," She croaked softly.

"Distract me, please," he ordered.

"I'm sorry, what?"

He exhaled sharply.

"Just prattle about something unimportant until I calm down," he clarified. I ventured to look at him through Bella's eyes now. He had closed his eyes and was pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. I waited for her to come up with something before Edward exploded. He looked ready for violence.

"Um. I'm going to run over Tyler Crowley tomorrow before school?"

His eyes were still closed, but the corner of his mouth twitched.

"Why?"

"He's telling everyone that he's taking me to prom - either he's insane or he's still trying to make up for almost killing me last… well, you remember it, and he thinks _prom _is somehow the correct way to do this. So I figure if I endanger his life, then we're even, and he can't keep trying to make amends. I don't need enemies and maybe Lauren would back off if he left me alone. I might have to total his Sentra, though. If he doesn't have a ride he can't take anyone to prom…"

"I heard about that." He sounded a bit more composed.

"_You _did?" She asked in disbelief. "If he's paralyzed from the neck down, he can't go to the prom, either," Bella muttered. I flinched. If I hadn't spent the last months of my human life in just that kind of situation, it might have been funny.

Edward sighed and opened his eyes.

"Better?" Bella asked.

"Not really." He leaned his head back against the seat, staring at the ceiling of the car. His face was rigid.

"What's wrong?" Bella whispered. Perhaps she didn't want to disturb me. I could understand that. She'd seen me at my worst. I wouldn't want to disturb me either. She would never talk to me again. I felt like weeping.

"Sometimes I have a problem with my temper, Bella." He was whispering, too, and as he stared out the window, his eyes narrowed into slits. "But it _wouldn't _be helpful for me to turn around and hunt down those…" He didn't finish his sentence, looking away, struggling for a moment to control his anger again. "At least," he continued, "that's what I'm trying to convince myself."

"Oh." Bella's response had to be killing Edward. I know it was killing me. What was she thinking?

"Are you sure she's okay?" Bella's whispered question came as she looked back over the seat at me. She couldn't see much in the dark.

"She'll be fine in while. Carlisle is coming to get her. Luckily he was in Port Angeles to see a patient at the hospital here." As if on cue, I heard the purr of the Mercedes' engine. It would be here in a minute or so. It was quiet in the car for a moment, the only sound that of Bella's even breathing. When the Mercedes finally pulled up next to us, Edward got out of the car. Bella looked back over the seat again.

"Thank you, Leia. That's two I owe your family." Her quiet words surprised me so much I actually turned over to face her. I could see a vague reflection in my glasses. She was holding out my shopping bag over the seat with what I swore was a smile. She was smiling? I took the bag tentatively and returned the smile.

"Your welcome." My voice was hoarse with hunger still and the breath I had to take to say the words scorched my throat with her scent, all the more potent now that I was fighting bloodlust. The door at my feet opened abruptly and I leapt from the car and into Edward's arms. He held me again, this time a comforting hug instead of a restraining one.

"I'm glad you were with her, Lei. Thank you." He kissed my hair and then handed me off to Carlisle, who was waiting silently by his car. He tucked me into the passenger seat and I pulled my knees up to my chest, burying my face in the fabric of my skirt. I heard Edward get back into the Volvo as Carlisle put the car in drive and took off for home.

"Leia, love, are you okay?" Carlisle's gentle question was nearly my undoing.

"No. I wanted to kill him so bad. All of them." I whispered this, ashamed. Carlisle reached over and rested his hand on my hair. My beautiful angel doctor, my father, understood. It was the only thing that made it bearable.

"But you didn't, Leia. No one would have faulted you if you had. You were protecting Bella." He sounded sincere and I sighed softly.

"But we would have had to move, if I had finished it like I wanted to. Bella wouldn't have wanted to see me ever again. I don't know how she could now after I lost it in front of her."

Carlisle chuckled softly.

"I think Bella is more resilient than either you or Edward give her credit for, but it's a theory I'm glad we didn't have to test. But no, I doubt we would have had to move, little one. We would have cleaned this one up somehow." He sounded determined and I smiled. He loved me enough that he would have cleaned it up, despite his distaste for the waste of life. Not that that man and his friends had been worth Carlisle's consideration. I felt a flash of anger and couldn't stop a growl. Carlisle stroked my hair and I did my best to relax.

"Now, tell me what happened. Edward only gave me a little to go on."

I explained the whole episode for him. By the time I finished, we were almost home. I wasn't surprised to find Esme standing in the garage, waiting for us. She gathered me close.

"You need to hunt, baby?" Her question made my throat tighten. I shouldn't need to, but I would. I needed to hunt something. Maybe it would satisfy the beast inside me. Esme took me by the hand and we ran out of the garage and leapt across the river. I sighed and tugged Esme a little to the north, where I heard a heavily thudding heart.

When we returned two hours later, I had myself under control and I needed to be alone for a while. I fled up the stairs to my room. I was shocked to sense Jasper in my room. I felt a wealth of calm wash away my depression and I aimed a frown at Jasper.

"I hate it when my baby sister feels down." His deep, gentle voice soothed my frown away and I jumped into his arms, knowing without fail that he would catch me. He swung me around a couple of times and kissed my forehead. "I hear you've joined Edward in the 'Save Bella' society. That girl really does need 24 hour supervision."

I laughed darkly. I hadn't believed Edward when he'd called Bella a trouble magnet, but I was beginning to see that it was true. I sighed.

"I just wanted to say how proud I am of you." His quiet words were laced with pain. I reached up to touch his face, concerned. I felt and saw his tortured smile reflected in my glasses.

"Oh, Jasper, I really didn't…"

"Don't, Leia. You could have fought Edward for your prey. He had Bella to think about and he probably would have let you have the kill if you hadn't calmed down so quickly. And to spend the next few minutes in the car with Bella's blood so close…I wouldn't have lasted one second. You are a marvel, little Lei. I'm hoping I can figure out your secret."

"Thank you." I didn't feel much like a marvel. I couldn't hate myself for what I'd done, because I had done it to protect Bella. And of course with Jasper flooding me with warm fuzzies, I couldn't feel bad about much of anything. I snuggled into his arms with a sigh. We stayed like that for a while, but I eventually made him put me down and go back to Alice. I really did need some time alone. I put on my headphones and turned on some Debussy. I was curled up on the couch with the CD running through for about the fifth time when Edward came home.

"Come with me in the morning. I'm going to go pick up Bella and I think she'll want to see you." His words were quiet, but I heard them easily even through my headphones. I shook my head. _How can she not be frightened of me?_

Edward sat on the couch opposite me and swung his bare feet up. I pressed my small feet against the bottom of his. This was a normal position for us when we were chatting. I could see his hands as he spoke to me in sign and he could read my mind. It was the only way to have a completely private conversation in this house unless everyone else was out hunting.

_Trust me, if I have not frightened her off by now, she is not going to be easily frightened. She knows what we are._

I would have panicked at that point, but Edward leaned forward and grabbed my hands.

"No, Lei. Don't." His warning was enough to keep me still.

_Was it me_? I had to know. He released my hands so he could talk silently again.

_No. She knew before, or at least she had all the pieces to the puzzle. One of the Quileute kids said something to her and she connected the dots._

_The Quileutes? They still believe the old legends?_

_The elders do, I'm sure, but the kids are just repeating what they have heard in oral histories. I doubt they believe in the old scary stories._

_Ugh, I just hope this doesn't get complicated, then, what with the treaty and all._

_I don't see how it would. We stay off their lands, they keep their mouths shut. Technically they've broken the treaty by saying something to Bella, but I don't think Carlisle will declare war on an entire tribe of defenseless Native Americans because of it._

I laughed out loud at the thought. My father would do anything short of sacrificing one of his own family to keep things from getting that out of hand. Edward nodded, echoing my sentiment.

_So, are we not telling everyone?_

_Not now. Rosalie will just freak out. I'll tell them soon. Carlisle and Alice know._

_So...she knows and she still wants to be friends? _I was still having trouble with this concept. _She should be hiding under her bed with garlic and holy water, if she believes the usual stories._

_Oh, comeon. Don't you think I debunked the usual myths for her? Besides... _At this point, he switched to speaking out loud, so that he could convey his disbelief and horror in the next words."She said it doesn't matter."

_Is she completely insane? Maybe Carlisle knows some good psychiatrists_. My mental tone was shocked and borderline hysterical, I'm sure. _I could have killed her today. I almost killed a man, would have and gleefully. Does she understand that?_

Edward leaned over and pulled me into his lap. I hid my face in his shirt and shuddered. He stroked my hair and murmured softly in my ear. "You wouldn't have killed Bella. You were protecting her, Leia. If that man had died, frankly the world would be a better place for it. But I wouldn't wish that burden on you for all the world. I had a hard time not stalking him myself, but...Carlisle is taking care of it."

_How?_

"He's wanted in at least two states for rape and murder. Carlisle is just going to see to it that he turns himself in." Edward's voice ended in a snarl and I knew that he had wanted to kill the man as badly as I had. And suddenly, I realized how lucky it was that I had been with Bella. No, not luck. I didn't believe in luck. Divine providence. Edward snorted softly and I smacked his shoulder.

"Don't ruin my moment. What time is it?"

"I'm leaving as soon as you get dressed. If you're coming." He stroked my hair one last time before releasing me. I sighed.

"Are you stealing her again at lunch?" I glanced up at him and he just smiled serenely. The answer was obviously yes. "Well then, yes. I'll go with you."

The rest of the week moved by too quickly. Wednesday had been tense, when Rosalie and Jasper had found out that Bella knew about us. I had spent a lot of time in my room that night and the next. Edward, of course, was spending all his extra time with Bella. I wished I could be a fly on the wall when she found out he was watching her sleep at night. I was coming to believe the Bella really did love Edward, more than he was willing to give her credit for. Why else would she stick stubbornly by his side when she knew the horrors we were capable of?

Edward and Alice were leaving Friday afternoon to hunt. Edward was spending the day alone with Bella tomorrow and he wanted to be prepared. To my delight, I was going to go home with Bella tonight. We were going to have a sleep over. I had never had a sleepover before. Just the fact that Edward trusted me with Bella made me giddy. I knew, of course, that Edward just wanted someone to keep watch over Bella while he was gone. But honestly, what trouble could the girl get in at home? It would also be nice to get out of the house. Honestly, Rosalie's dark moods were making things crazy tense at home.

"So, Edward says you're the dancer in the family?" Bella's question startled me. We were in her truck on the way to her house. The engine's roar really was distracting.

"Um, yes. I love to dance." I smiled at over at Bella as she pulled up in front of her house. Chief Swan was obviously still at work. Bella had mentioned that he usually worked late.

"What kind?" Bella quizzed me as she walked next to me up the walk. I didn't bother to pretend I couldn't see the walkway through her eyes anymore. She opened the door for me and I stepped inside as I answered.

"Mostly ballet. I do some modern dance, but ballet is just so graceful." I followed Bella up the stairs and she gave me a quick view of the bathroom and then showed me into her room. I was pretty sure Bella had tidied up. Everything was painfully neat. Bella explained.

"I didn't want anything to get in your way if you needed to get around in the middle of the night. Edward said you don't sleep, so I wasn't sure what you'd want to do."

"Oh, probably just watch you sleep." I said this in jest, making Bella blush. I couldn't see it, but I felt the rise of blood in her cheeks. I grinned and changed the subject.

"So, should we get project stuff out of the way before the chief gets home? What are you making him for dinner?" The rest of the night was spent getting the bulk of our geography project done and making and cleaning up after dinner. I demanded that Bella let me help with the dishes. It was new experience for me, I explained, and she relented with a laugh. Charlie Swan left us to our own devices for the most part, but he made it a point to say hello to me and then goodnight when he drifted upstairs to bed. Finally, Bella and I moved upstairs to her room. She went off to do human pre-bedtime things in the bathroom and I changed into my pajamas. Alice had been thrilled to have a reason to buy me some.

I heard Bella muttering to herself in the bathroom and realized after a moment that she was debating whether or not to take cold medication to help herself sleep. She was obviously more nervous about tomorrow than she let on. I felt a twinge of fear myself. Alice still had the two very clear possible futures in her head. Bella dead or Bella vampire. And if Bella died, it would probably happen in the meadow tomorrow. I shook my head with a scowl. Edward would not make that mistake. He loved Bella so much. Tomorrow would be their second 'date' and I hoped he would stop grappling with the hows and whys about their relationship and just enjoy being in love.

Bella finally came back into the room. I was sitting in the rocking chair in the corner, humming to myself. Edward's scent was strong here. I had set my glasses aside and I sensed Bella was staring.

"You look even younger without your glasses. How old are you?" Bella sat cross-legged on her bed and I smiled at her.

"Techincally fifteen."

"And...literally?" Bella seemed hesitant to ask this question. I didn't mind her knowing. My story was definitely the least interesting of the family. So I told her the story of how I had met my angel doctor and my beautiful brother. She fell asleep soon after that and I figured she had taken the cold medicine. I rocked myself as I waited for the sun to come up.

The next day was quiet. I spent the day with Alice, working the geography project board and then working on a few fashion design projects. Prom was coming up soon, so it gave her something to concentrate on. Of course Alice was constantly going unfocused on me. I knew she was checking on Edward and Bella. There were a couple of tense moments, but at some point about lunch, she beamed happily and I relaxed. Edward had obviously passed the point where Bella dead was a possible future. Rosalie, who had been hovering most of the day, stomped off after that.

"Grow up, Rose." I muttered this after my retreating sister, knowing she would hear it. She was the only one in the family that couldn't appreciate Bella in some way. Jasper had admitted to me that he could see that Bella's life was tied so firmly to Edward's now that to lose her would be a blow that Edward might not ever recover from. Even Emmett was okay with Bella being part of Edward's life. It was just Rosalie that had problems. I didn't take a lot to figure out she was jealous. Whether it was the attention Bella was getting or the fact that Edward was the one giving her the attention, I couldn't quite decide.

Edward came home for just a brief moment just before sunrise, to change clothes. He flashed into my room, picked me up and twirled me around. He didn't say a word, but I put my hands on his face and felt his joyful expression. I laughed happily as he flashed back out of the house. I didn't hear the Volvo's engine, so he was running back. Alice came up to my room a little while later and we danced around happily for a moment before she told me some news.

"He's bringing her over this morning!"

"Over as in here?" I was surprised but pleased. Esme was busting at the seams to meet Bella. Alice and I went down to find Esme agonizing over what she should wear to meet Edward's Bella, as she insisted on calling her. She seemed happy to let us choose for her. I kissed her cheek and smiled.

"She won't care what you're wearing, mom, I promise. When is dad getting home?" Carlisle arrived around seven thirty and he was pleased to hear the news. The only dark spot on our morning was the shouting match Rosalie got into with Emmett and Carlisle before storming out of the house. I refused to let her ruin Edward's moment and quickly distracted Esme. I announced giddily when I heard Bella's truck approaching. I heard it long before I would have noticed the Volvo's quiet purr. I danced into the back corner of the great room, perching on the back of the couch. Bella already knew me, so it was the rest of the family's turn to get to know her.

I heard the truck stop and heard Edward ask Bella how she liked the house. She sounded nervous. I chuckled softly until Esme announced proudly that Edward was holding Bella's hand. I would have gasped in shock if the door hadn't opened just then. I reined in my response and allowed myself a peek through Bella's eyes. I had to clench my own hands together to keep from clapping like a child in delight. Wasn't it just two days ago that Edward had lamented ever being able to touch Bella like a human beau might? I didn't know what had happened yesterday in the meadow, but it must have been truly amazing.

I watched as Esme and Carlisle greeted Bella. She was polite and gracious, not seeming too nervous now. There was a tense moment when Alice flashed down the stairs and then kissed Bella's cheek. I would have laughed at my so bold sister if I wasn't trying to blend into the background. _Alice is making up for lost time. You should have let her meet Bella officially earlier. And what's with telling Jasper not to get too close? You know if you had more confidence in him he might have less trouble believing in himself. _I thought that at Edward. He didn't look at me as Bella was introduced to Jasper, but he flashed a handsign in Bella's peripheral vision.

_Brat._

_Picture me sticking my tongue out at you._

I hummed softly along when Bella and Esme talked Edward into playing the piano. I couldn't believe that Bella didn't know that Edward played and composed. That was such a big part of who Edward was.

"You know, Leia should dance for you, while we've got Edward at the piano. It might be a while before we'll pin him down again." Esme's soft voice startled me out of a daydream. Bella eagerly seconded her and I waited as Edward sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes.

"Why don't we buy a bus and sell ourselves out like the Partridge Family?" Esme slapped him gently on the shoulder and I just laughed. I danced past the piano bench and gently touched Bella's arm in greeting before I flashed up the stairs to find a pair of my dancing shoes.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: This is an AU story. There *is* some borrowed dialogue from Twilight in here somewhere. My story parallels B/E's romance. Please read the full disclaimer on chapter one.

Warning: POV changes will occur.

Disclaimer: The Twilight Series belongs to Stephanie Meyer. Mitts off Leia.

***********************************************************

Chapter Eleven

The crack of Emmett's bat was shattering, thunderous; it echoed off the mountains - this was why my family could only play ball during thunderstorms. I watched through Esme's eyes as Bella's eyes lit up. She was enjoying watching us play. The ball shot like a meteor above the field, flying deep into the surrounding forest.

"Home run," Bella murmured. I giggled as Esme shook her head.

"Wait." I watched as Emmett ran around the bases with Carlisle pacing beside him. I listened as Edward disappeared into the trees, heard the distant sound of the ball smashing into his hands.

"Out!" Esme cried out. Bella stared in disbelief as Edward sprang from the fringe of the trees, ball in his upraised hand, grinning widely.

"Emmett hits the hardest," Esme explained, "but Edward runs the fastest."

I was the designated catcher for both teams. I could easily catch the ball that Alice pitched and throw it back, but hitting the ball wasn't something I had mastered yet, not without someone standing behind me with their hand on my shoulder. That wasn't a good place for them to stand, though. We'd lost a handful of bats because they'd bent around one family member or another's arm when they didn't pull away fast enough. So I was happy to catch, for now.

The game continued. Emmett's team was up by one - Rosalie managed to flit around the bases after tagging up on one of Emmett's long flies - when Edward caught the third out. He sprinted to Bella's side, sparkling with excitement.

"What do you think?" he asked.

"One thing's for sure, I'll never be able to sit through dull old Major League Baseball again." Bella's comment made me chuckle and Edward laughed.

"And it sounds like you did so much of that before."

"I am a little disappointed," Bella teased.

"Why?" Edward asked, puzzled. I tilted my head, curious about her answer.

"Well, it would be nice if I could find just one thing you didn't do better than everyone else on the planet." I snorted at this and glanced at Edward. Esme had her hand on my shoulder at the moment, as she often did when I caught. I muttered at Edward.

"Show off."

"I'm up," Edward said, ignoring me as he headed for the plate. He played intelligently, keeping the ball low, out of the reach of Rosalie's always-ready hand in the outfield, gaining two bases like lightning before Emmett could get the ball back in play. Carlisle knocked one so far out of the field that he and Edward both made it in. Alice slapped them dainty high fives. The score constantly changed as the game continued, and they razzed each other like street ballplayers as they took turns with the lead. Occasionally Esme would call them to order.

Carlisle was up to bat when Alice suddenly gasped. Edward's head snapped up to look at her. Their eyes met and something flowed between them in an instant. I heard Edward curse under his breath as he ran to Bella's side.

"Alice?" Esme's voice was tense. I walked over to stand near Bella and Edward, my head tilted as I ranged my senses out to find whatever threat might be out there. I heard footsteps approaching from a distance and my brow furrowed. It sounded like a pair or a trio of barefooted people were running through the woods. Running too fast to be human.

"I didn't see - I couldn't tell," Alice whispered.

"What is it, Alice?" Carlisle asked in a calm voice.

"They were traveling much quicker than I thought. I can see I had the perspective wrong before," she murmured. Jasper leaned over her, his posture protective.

"What changed?" he asked.

"They heard us playing, and it changed their path," she said, contrite. Everyone except me glanced at Bella and then away. I vaguely remembered hearing Carlisle mention a small coven of nomads passing through our area, but Alice hadn't seen them stopping so it hadn't concerned me over much.

"They're running," I said quietly. I heard Edward grit his teeth in frustration.

"How long?" Carlisle asked Edward.

"Less than five minutes. They want to play." He scowled.

"Can you make it?" Carlisle asked him, his eyes flicking toward Bella.

"No, not carrying -" He cut short. "Besides, the last thing we need is for them to catch the scent and start hunting."

"How many?" Emmett asked Alice.

"Three," she answered tersely.

"Three!" he scoffed. "Let them come." The steel bands of muscle flexed along his massive arms. Typical Emmett, always ready for a good fight. I was frozen in fright. Not because I was worried we couldn't win a fight, but because Bella might get hurt or dead in the process.

"Let's just continue the game," Carlisle decided. His voice was cool and level. "Alice said they were simply curious."

"Are they thirsty?" Esme's question was frightened, her voice too low for Bella to hear. Edward shook his head and pulled both Bella and myself back towards home plate.

"I'll call it now." Edward said this as he planted himself behind me with Bella clinging to his back. Alice and Esme flanked her. I grimaced as Edward laid a hand on my shoulder. The others returned to the field, warily sweeping the dark forest with their sharp eyes.

"Take your hair down," Edward told Bella. I heard her slid the rubber band out of her hair and shake it out.

"The others are coming now." Bella's quiet statement was calm, but I heard the underlying fear.

"Yes, stay very still, keep quiet, and don't move from my side, please." Edward's quiet voice trembled with stress and fear. He let go of me to help Bella arrange her hair around her face.

"That won't help," Alice said softly. "I could smell her across the field."

"I know." A hint of frustration colored Edward's tone. I hadn't wanted to say anything, knowing that my nose was more sensitive than most, but Alice's comment stirred my fear.

Carlisle stood at the plate, and we played our game halfheartedly. The seconds ticked by; the game progressed with apathy now. No one dared to hit harder than a bunt, and Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper hovered in the infield. Edward paid no attention to the game at all, eyes and mind ranging the forest. It was a good thing I didn't need eyes to catch.

"I'm sorry, Bella," Edward muttered fiercely. "It was stupid, irresponsible, to expose you like this. I'm so sorry."

_Take responsibility for the sky being blue while you're at it. _I snapped this mentally at Edward but I doubted he was paying attention. I knew exactly where the three vampires were. Just before they emerged from the trees, Edward's breath stopped and his eyes zeroed in on right field. He took a half step backwards, angling himself between Bella and that side of the field. I had to switch my sight to Bella to see what was coming out of the trees.

_A day later_

If the situation had been any different, I would have been enjoying the landscape through someone's eyes. We drove south through a lot of beautiful country. Other than one stop to get Bella some fresh clothes and a couple of stops for gas, we had been going nonstop. Bella spent all of her time curled up against me, always quiet, sometimes crying into my shoulder. I held her as gently as I knew how. Bella really should be sleeping, I thought to myself, but every time her eyes closed, I felt her jerk lightly. She didn't like what she saw beneath her closed lids and I ached for her, for the fact that her world was suddenly turned upside down. She didn't deserve any of this, but neither, I thought rebelliously, did Edward or any of us.

I wasn't breathing much and I knew Jasper wasn't. He was holding Alice's hand, his thumb tracing lazy circles across the back of her hand gently. I couldn't see it, because Bella's eyes were focused out the window at the moment, but I heard the light rasp of skin against skin.

"Which way to the airport, Bella?" Jasper had asked quietly, and Bella flinched against me. I couldn't blame her. It was the first sound, besides the purr of the car, to break the long night's silence. I wondered if Bella knew it was because talking meant breathing and we were all careful not to do too much of that in the confines of the car.

"Stay on the I-ten," she answered. "We'll pass right by it. Are we flying somewhere?"

"No, but it's better to be close, just in case." Alice responded to her. As we started the loop around Sky Harbor International, I finally felt Bella fall asleep against me. I relaxed and sighed. The light burn in my throat was not bad enough to bother me as I spoke softly.

"She's asleep. Finally."

"Good. Hopefully she'll do a lot of sleeping the next couple of days. It's going to be…tense." Alice sounded almost tired. Jasper picked up her hand then and brought it to his lips. It was a slightly different sound, the brush of lips against skin. It was something Jasper did often, so I had learned the subtle difference.

The next two days were indeed very tense. Bella was moody, erratic, and even Jasper's ability to soothe didn't help much. She was worried about someone getting hurt, anyone. I was amazed at her ability to care for my family, even Rosalie, when she didn't really know us that well. Edward, yes, and me, maybe a little. Edward was right to love this human, this incredibly loving, loyal person.

I was currently sitting on the couch with Jasper, listening to Alice give Bella information that would really piss Edward off if he knew she was giving it. How vampires were made, a delicate subject since Alice still saw Bella becoming one of us in the future. Edward was adamant that that wasn't an option. I was torn between hoping Alice's prediction came true and hoping it didn't. It would break Edward's heart either way, I thought. Unless we could convince Edward that Bella's soul wasn't in danger from conversation. I didn't know if anyone had an argument strong enough to make him believe that.

Suddenly Alice very abruptly changed subjects. The stalker had changed course, evidently. Jasper drew her out into the living area and coaxed information out of her. She was sketching the room she'd seen him in.

"It's a ballet studio," Bella said, suddenly recognizing the familiar shapes.

"Do you know this room?" Jasper's voice sounded calm, but there was an undercurrent of disbelief there. Alice bent her head to her work, her hand flying to the shape an emergency exit against the back wall, a stereo and TV on a low table by the front right corner. Bella nodded.

"It looks like a place I used to go for dance lessons - when I was eight or nine. It was shaped just the same." She touched the page where the square section jutted out, narrowing the back part of the room. "That's where the bathrooms were - the doors went through to the other dance floor. But the stereo was here" - she pointed to the left corner - "it was older, and there wasn't a TV. There was a window in the waiting room - you would see the room from this perspective if you looked through it."

Alice and Jasper stared at her and I wrung my hands in agitation.

"Are you sure it's the same room?" Jasper asked, still trying to sound calm for Bella's sake.

"No, not at all - I suppose most dance studios would look the same - the mirrors, the bar." Bella sounded like she was trying to convince herself was she traced a finger along the ballet bar set against the mirrors. "It's just the shape that looked familiar."

"Would you have any reason to go there now?" Alice asked.

"No, I haven't been there in almost ten years. I was a terrible dancer - they always put me in the back for recitals," Bella admitted with a light blush. I could almost smile at that. Yes, our Bella wasn't the most graceful of humans.

"So there's no way it could be connected with you?" Alice asked intently.

"No, I don't even think the same person owns it. I'm sure it's just another dance studio, somewhere."

"Where was the studio you went to?" Jasper asked in a casual voice.

"It was just around the corner from my mom's house. I used to walk there after school…" She said, her voice trailing off as she watched Alice and Jasper exchange a meaningful look.

"Here in Phoenix, then?" His voice was still casual.

"Yes," Bella whispered. "Fifty-eighth Street and Cactus."

We all sat in silence, staring at the drawing until Bella broke the silence.

"Alice, is that phone safe?"

"Yes, the number would just trace back to Washington."

"Then I can use it to call my mom."

"I thought she was in Florida."

"She is - but she's coming home soon, and she can't come back to that house while…"

Bella's voice trembled.

"How will you reach her?" I asked quietly.

"They don't have a permanent number except at the house - she's supposed to check her messages regularly."

"Jasper?" Alice asked.

"I don't think there's any way it could hurt - be sure you don't say where you are, of course."

Bella dialed the phone and I heard it ring four times before I heard her mother's voice telling her to leave a message.

"Mom, it's me. Listen, I need you to do something. It's important. As soon as you get this message, call me at this number." Alice wrote the number for her on the bottom of her picture. She read it carefully, twice.

"Please don't go anywhere until you talk to me. Don't worry, I'm okay, but I have to talk to you right away, no matter how late you get this call, all right? I love you, Mom. Bye."

It was the next day before we knew for sure that the tracker was coming to Phoenix. Bella identified another drawing of Alice's as her mother's house. A quick to call to Edward had confirmed that they were boarding a plane for Phoenix immediately. Bella seemed to brighten at the news that Edward would be here later this morning. That was the only bright thing about the whole affair, I thought sourly. We were going to have to move again, to a hotel closer to Bella's old home.

I was going to be sent along with Carlisle, Edward and Bella while Emmett stayed with Jasper and Alice until they could hunt down the tracker. It wasn't like I couldn't fight as well. In fact, I was almost Emmett-like in my desire to help them hunt down James. Edward had been so happy, so determined to be happy with this new love with Bella and then James had come into our lives and shattered that happiness. I was so mad, Jasper had to remind me to stop grinding my teeth whenever I thought too hard on it. But Alice was adamant about me leaving Phoenix. She refused to tell me what she saw that made her so afraid for me, but I had reluctantly agreed.

Jasper and Alice were downstairs checking us out when the call came, so I let Bella answer it. My only orders were not to let her leave the room. I could hear whatever she heard, anyway.

"Hello?"

"Bella? Bella?" It was her mother's voice, frantic. It sounded odd, though. Bella sighed and tried to calm her down.

"Calm down, Mom," she said, walking slowly away from me, as if lying to her mother would come easier if she didn't think I was listening in. I repressed a grin. Hadn't Edward explained to her that I could hear a pin drop at three miles if I was paying attention? "Everything is fine, okay? Just give me a minute and I'll explain everything, I promise."

"Mom?" Bella said this after there was a significant pause on the other end of the line.

"Be very careful not to say anything until I tell you to." The new voice was a shock. Not Renee Swan. Was this Phil? It was a man's tenor voice, a very pleasant voice. He spoke very quickly, in a manner that made my skin crawl. I couldn't see Bella's expression, so I didn't know if she knew this voice or not.

"Now, I don't need to hurt your mother, so please do exactly as I say, and she'll be fine." He paused for a minute while Bella and I both listened in mute horror. No, this was not Phil. "That's very good," he congratulated. "Now repeat after me, and do try to sound natural. Please say, 'No, Mom, stay where you are.'"

"No, Mom, stay where you are." Bella's voice was barely more than a whisper.

"I can see this is going to be difficult." The voice was amused, still light and friendly, but I recognized the musical quality that all vampires had now running through it. "Why don't you walk into another room now so your face doesn't ruin everything? There's no reason for your mother to suffer. As you're walking, please say, 'Mom, please listen to me.' Say it now."

"Mom, please listen to me," Bella's voice pleaded as I watched her walk very slowly to the bedroom. She didn't look back at me, or my horrified expression would had told her I knew, had heard. As she shut the door behind her, I stayed frozen, afraid if I moved I might explode. How had this creature found out our phone number? Then it hit me. Bella had left a message for her mother on the machine at home. He had been to her home. Now he had our phone number and Bella's mother.

"There now, are you alone? Just answer yes or no."

"Yes."

"But they can still hear you, I'm sure."

"Yes."

"All right, then," the agreeable voice continued, "say, 'Mom, trust me.'"

"Mom, trust me."

"This worked out rather better than I expected. I was prepared to wait, but your mother arrived ahead of schedule. It's easier this way, isn't it? Less suspense, less anxiety for you."

Bella and I both waited for his next words.

"Now I want you to listen very carefully. I'm going to need you to get away from your friends; do you think you can do that? Answer yes or no."

"No." Damn right, no. I wasn't going to let her out of my sight now for anything.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I was hoping you would be a little more creative than that. Do you think you could get away from them if your mother's life depended on it? Answer yes or no."

Bella only hesitated for a moment before, "Yes."

Yes, I thought, tell him that. Keep him happy. I growled very softly and my mind was working furiously. There had to be a way out of this situation without losing Bella or Renee. I put the palm of my hand against my forehead and tried my best to think of something.

"That's better. I'm sure it won't be easy, but if I get the slightest hint that you have any company, well, that would be very bad for your mother," the friendly voice promised. I growled again. That didn't give me a lot of options.

"You must know enough about us by now to realize how quickly I would know if you tried to bring anyone along with you. And how little time I would need to deal with your mother if that was the case. Do you understand? Answer yes or no."

"Yes." Bella's voice broke. I wanted to snarl.

"Very good, Bella. Now this is what you have to do. I want you to go to your mother's house. Next to the phone there will be a number. Call it, and I'll tell you where to go from there." We already knew where he would tell her to go, and where this would end. "Can you do that? Answer yes or no."

"Yes."

"Before noon, please, Bella. I haven't got all day," he said politely.

"Where's Phil?" Bella's terse question made me cringe. Don't antagonize the nice vampire, Bella. But in truth, I wondered this myself. Why hadn't he mentioned Phil? Had Renee come home alone?

"Ah, be careful now, Bella. Wait until I ask you to speak, please." How odd. His voice held a hint of uncertainty. Something I doubted Bella would catch in the horrified state she had to be in.

"It's important, now, that you don't make your friends suspicious when you go back to them. Tell them that your mother called, and that you talked her out of coming home for the time being. Now repeat after me, 'Thank you, Mom.' Say it now."

"Thank you, Mom."

"Say, 'I love you, Mom, I'll see you soon.' Say it now."

"I love you, Mom. I'll see you soon."

"Goodbye, Bella. I look forward to seeing you again." He hung up. I sat, still frozen, still thinking furiously. There had to be a way around this, out of this. I heard Alice returning and I smoothed my expression. Luckily, Jasper wasn't with her. He would sense the horror in the room immediately and demand to know what had happened.

I knew that whatever I decided, I wasn't going to leave Bella alone to face James. But I also knew better than to make any firm decisions now, while I was close enough for Alice to see my course change in clear, sparkling color. I would bide my time and pray for my chance to get away from my brother and sister before Bella could put whatever plan she was making into motion.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: This is an AU story. There *is* some borrowed dialogue from Twilight and Midnight Sun in here somewhere. My story parallels B/E's romance. Please read the full disclaimer on chapter one.

Warning: POV changes will occur.

Disclaimer: The Twilight Series belongs to Stephanie Meyer. Mitts off Leia.

***********************************************************

Chapter Twelve

I stepped out of the cab in front of Bella's house, breathing a sigh of relief that there was a row of trees to block the blasted morning sun. It was a good thing I was dressed in clothing that covered me well. As it was, the cab driver had to think I was the most eccentric person in Arizona. I had kept my hair across my face and my hands tucked into my pockets on the drive from the hotel, cringing every time I felt the warm sun fall across my body. The cab driver was giving me odd looks, but he took my money and smiled at the healthy tip I gave him. Then he was gone.

It had been easier than I thought, getting away from Alice and Jasper. They had left me at the hotel while they went to the airport. When they called in about twenty minutes to tell me to take myself downstairs to meet the car, they were going to be extremely irate when I didn't answer the phone. It was ten o'clock, so I'm sure the plane had landed by now. Alice had said that it was going to be on time. I didn't think there was any chance of Bella getting away from Jasper and Alice, but just in case the impossible happened, my concern was getting Bella's mother to safety before Bella threw herself at James like a sacrificial virgin.

I was relieved when my scan of the house and the immediate surroundings held no hint of James beyond his scent. There was nothing moving in or around the house except insects. His scent was fairly strong, but he'd been here recently so I discounted it. Using the view I'd borrowed from the cab driver of the front of the house, I moved carefully across the lawn. A quick scan of the area told me the only human around that might be watching was in the house next door. I heard a snore and smiled. A sleeping human. I pulled Bella's keys from my pocket, which I had lifted from her purse earlier, and tried each one until I got the door open. I slipped inside and shut the door.

I had Alice's drawing to help me with the layout inside the house. I moved carefully until I located something familiar, the couch, and then I moved more confidently. The tracker's scent was easy to pick out from the very old traces of Bella and her family. My forehead puckered as I realized that it was the only scent that was recent. Had he taken Bella's mother before she'd entered the house? I was making my way to the phone when I tripped. I caught myself on the coffee table before I could fall and felt around for what I'd tripped over. It was a VHS tape, I thought. I remembered that Alice had mentioned James running a VCR at both the house and the studio. I fumbled around until I found the VCR and slid the tape into it. I turned on the TV and was glad to hear the VCR start the tape automatically.

"...birthday dear Bella, happy birthday to you!" Evidently this was home video of one of Bella's birthday parties. I wondered which one and thought idly that Edward would love to see this.

"Wow, my Bella is a teenager now. Isn't that great, baby?" Renee's voice, answering my question, made something click in my mind. Why was James watching old home videos? Agreed, it was nice creepy stalker behavior, but I didn't think that was the reason. Alice said he had run the VCR at the studio too. I realized then, what had been odd about Renee's voice over the phone earlier. It had been a recording. Just a hint of static, something a human ear wouldn't pick up on automatically. I ran for the phone.

"Bella?!" It was Alice's voice.

"No, it's me." I cringed, waiting for the explosion. It didn't come. At least not yet.

"Are you with Bella?" Carlisle had the phone now.

"No. Damn, I was hoping she hadn't gotten away from them. She hasn't gotten here yet. Did Edward read the letter?"

"Letter, what letter?" Carlisle sounded confused. I heard Alice exclaim in the background and then there was the sound of an envelope ripping. I heard Edward's roar of anger, his groan of despair. I hurried to reassure Carlisle.

"He doesn't have Bella's mom, Carlisle. He's got a recording of her from old home movies. I'll head Bella off and then we'll..." I trailed off in alarm. The phone went dead. I couldn't smell him, not in the house, but I heard the faintest of footsteps across the roof. He must have been waiting there, motionless, watching and listening. Then he was inside and in the room with me. I dropped the phone and backed into a corner, dropping into a crouch with a snarl.

"No fair, telling them on me. But they'll be here soon, which is what I was hoping for. Nice to know Bella's braver than I thought to." I snarled again, cutting off more of his speech.

"You're a monologuer. How quaint." I put every ounce of my hatred for him into my voice. He laughed and I heard the sound of the air moving through his hair. Shaking his head, probably. He tsked softly.

"You must be Leia, the littlest Cullen. I think this will work out quite nicely. Even if Edward could let the human go, I don't think the rest of them would let me keep you. Yes, oh yes. Nice." He moved closer and I leapt at him, my teeth bared. He caught me, but not before I sank my teeth into his shoulder. He growled and kicked me across the room. I landed on top of the coffee table, shattering the glass top.

"Victoria will kill her way through Forks, leaving enough evidence to implicate your precious family and send every law enforcement agency in the states and Canada hunting for you." James growled this, speaking fast and low, before I could get up and attack him again. I froze as his words sank in, hovering half in, half out of the pile of broken wood and glass. I knew, in my mind, that I didn't have a chance to beat this vampire. He wasn't as fast as Edward or as strong as Emmett, but he was experienced and he was stronger than I was.

"What do you want?" I asked quietly.

"You know what I want. I want the girl. And your precious brother to come trying to save her. So play nice, and maybe I'll let you live long enough to see me tear your brother to shreds." He snarled this. So, there was a chance he wasn't planning on killing Bella until Edward arrived. To hold her hostage to ensure his own victory, perhaps? I straightened up with a haughty snort.

"Oh, I'll play nice, but only because I want to dance around your funeral pyre." My confidence in my family was the only thing I had to hold onto right now. That and my hope that I would find some opening to escape. It would have been easy enough to do, but until I was sure Bella was safe, my place was here, on the front lines. I cringed at what Bella would think when she came into this room with the destroyed furniture. I didn't dwell on it long. James grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the house and onto the roof. The neighbor was still snoring.

It was maybe fifteen minutes later and I was sitting on the floor in a tiny, dark closet with my arms wrapped around my knees. I pushed out my senses and easily picked out James' pacing the studio floor. Further out, it was harder to pick out individual sounds. Traffic noise and music and televisions and people talking blended into a cacophony. I thought I might have picked up the tone and cadence of Bella's voice once, but I couldn't be sure and it frustrated me.

When the pacing stopped, I knew something was about to happen. I heard Bella's distinctive careful steps outside, on the sidewalk, and my unbeating heart plummeted. I wanted to scream for her to run away, but she was too close now. He'd promised me that if I moved, made any sound until he came to me, he would kill Bella immediately. He had me for a hostage anyway, so how much could the human matter? Of course, if Bella was dead, I'd be out of here in a heartbeat. His threats against my family, to expose us, wouldn't matter if Bella were dead. We'd just move out of the country for a few decades.

My heart ached as I listened to him monologue again, this time to Bella. I knew he didn't have a lot of time, knew the Cullen's were hot on Bella's heels. Surely he knew that too. Why was evil always stupid? He had a video camera, taping her reactions to his revelations. I was shocked to hear that he'd known Alice, though. I was still trying to wrap my head around that when Bella tried to run from him. I reached for her eyes and saw James as he grabbed her and flung her across the room. I heard the sickening crunch of her skull against the mirrors, heard her gasp in pain. Even here, I could smell the blood, the scent wafting under the door. I snarled, fighting bloodlust with fury over the fact that he had hurt my friend. He hadn't killed her, no. He was still talking, still filming.

"So sweet, that smell. Your blood is...almost enough to make me break a promise I made. But no, let me reintroduce you to a friend of yours. She's so very anxious to meet you." The door to my unlocked prison opened and the scent of Bella's blood skimmed over my tongue, into my nostrils, slammed into me like a freight train. I stopped breathing then, realizing what he planned to do. He threw her into the closet with me and laughed.

"I decided it would be more fun to see if one of you vegetarians could resist tasting someone you loved than to have her myself." His words ended in a snarl, however and I knew that he was close to attacking Bella himself. Bella gasped again when she realized who I was.

"Leia! Oh, Leia, I'm sorry. He doesn't have my mother." She wrapped her arms around me then, burying her face against my shirt...and putting her blood soaked hair right under my chin. I lost my focus, felt my sanity slipping away from me as her heart thudded loudly in my ears, the rush of her blood called to me. I fought to keep the fury and fear foremost in my mind, hatred for James, love for Bella, love for Edward who would be devastated if Bella died, worse if she died at my hands. It was that last I clung to the hardest. Edward would hate me forever and the pain of that was enough to hold back the beast. Not long, no my hold wouldn't last long, but it would last long enough. For when I didn't immediately attack Bella, James quickly decided this plan wasn't going to work. He dragged her back away from me with a snarl. This time, I wasn't going to sit quietly in the closet. I leapt on him, wrapping both arms around his head. He dropped Bella to peel me off.

"Run, Bella!" I shrieked this at her and saw her stumble to her feet and scramble towards the exit. James ripped at my arms with his fingernails, bit my forearm where it was over his mouth. The screeching sound of his nails and teeth against my skin hurt my ears and to my amazement, hurt me literally as well, burned. I hadn't felt real physical pain in almost ten years. It was my shock that allowed him to pull me away from him. He roared and flung me away.

I crashed into the mirrored column in the middle of the studio and slid to the floor, glass raining down on top of me. James was already on Bella again. I heard a snap as he stepped on her leg to keep her from running again, heard Bella's scream of pain. And then I heard a car screech to a halt outside the studio. I crowed with triumph as I launched myself at James again. To distract him a little bit longer. He turned with a roar and threw out both hands, catching me in the chest. I flew backwards, sliding across the floor. I stayed against the wall where I landed.

"Oh no, Bella, no." Edward was here. And Jasper and Emmett and Alice…Carlisle too. He flashed to my side briefly as I heard Edward slam into James, the rumble of it like two rocks in a landslide. Then I heard Jasper and Emmett's wonderful growls.

"I'm fine, Carlisle. Go to Bella." I whispered this with difficulty as he put his hands on my face. It required breathing in the scent of Bella's blood to talk. I nearly choked with need, but I held myself tightly. I wouldn't disappoint my angel doctor by giving in to the desire to fly across the room. I knew that would just cause Edward more anguish because he wouldn't hesitate to hurt me if I attacked Bella. Carlisle paused for a split second, but Edward called him and he flashed to Bella's side.

The sounds of Jasper and Emmett taking down James would haunt my memory for the rest of my existence, mostly because of Edward's cries of distress, his sobs over Bella's broken body, underlying the snapping and the tearing. They dragged James into the other studio to burn him. The blood would have been too much for them, would have been too much for me if I had the will to move an inch. I just listened to them working over Bella. I didn't want to distract them, didn't want to draw attention to my pathetic self. Frankly, if Bella didn't live, I would crawl into the other room and let myself burn along with James. The shame of failing my brother, my friend, would be too much.

"The fire! Someone stop the fire!" Bella's scream made me flinch.

"Carlisle! Her hand!" Edward's voice again, panicked.

"He bit her." Carlisle's voice, before a calm anchor for me to hold onto, was now appalled. I heard Edward catch his breath in horror. I groaned softly. Edward's nightmare come true. Bella dead or Bella vampire. In his eyes, this was the worst of the two options.

"Edward, you have to do it." It was Alice's voice.

"No!" he bellowed.

"Alice," Bella moaned.

"There may be a chance," Carlisle said.

"What?" Edward begged.

"See if you can suck the venom back out. The wound is fairly clean."

"Will that work?" Alice's voice was strained.

"I don't know," Carlisle said. "But we have to hurry."

"Carlisle, I…" Edward hesitated. "I don't know if I can do that." His voice was agony.

"It's your decision, Edward, either way. I can't help you. I have to get this bleeding stopped here if you're going to be taking blood from her hand."

"Edward!" Bella screamed. I flinched again.

"Alice, get me something to brace her leg! Edward, you must do it now, or it will be too late."

I could see Edward's face now, through Bella's eyes. I watched his eyes as doubt was suddenly replaced with a blazing determination. His jaw tightened and he picked up her hand, bending over it to do the impossible. To taste his greatest temptation, only to let it go before he had satisfied the beast inside him. I felt Bella's vision waver, knew she was close to unconsciousness.

"Edward." Her voice was a whisper.

"He's right here, Bella." Carlisle's reassuring voice.

"Stay, Edward, stay with me…"

"I will." His voice was strained, but somehow triumphant. I wept dry tears of relief. He had done the impossible. I forced myself to get up, then. The smell of gasoline and smoke was getting strong, would be overpowering soon. There was only one thing I wanted to retrieve. One terrible but necessary memento of this horrible day. I located the video camera on the floor by the closet door.

I heard Bella sigh. "Thank you, Edward."

"I love you," he answered.

"I know," she breathed. Edward's laugh was quiet and weak with relief.

"I smell gasoline." Bella's voice was fading as the morphine Carlisle had given her began to take hold.

"It's time to move her," Carlisle said urgently.

"No, I want to sleep," Bella complained faintly.

"You can sleep, sweetheart, I'll carry you," Edward soothed her. "Sleep now, Bella."

As Edward left the room with Bella, Carlisle followed. It was Alice that came over to me then, drawing me into a fierce hug.

"Never, ever, ever do that again! If you decide to hare off alone to save the day without dragging me along, I will flay you within an inch of your immortal life." Her voice shook with anger and fear and horror. Everything about today, everything came crashing down on both of us and we held each other and shook with dry sobs. Jasper and Emmett found us there and gently pulled us apart. Emmett gathered me gently into his arms and ran me from the building.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: This is an AU story. There *is* some borrowed dialogue from Twilight and Midnight Sun in here somewhere. My story parallels B/E's romance. Please read the full disclaimer on chapter one.

Warning: POV changes will occur.

Disclaimer: The Twilight Series belongs to Stephanie Meyer. Mitts off Leia.

***********************************************************

Chapter Thirteen

"He didn't yell at you, did he?" Bella asked this timidly as I helped her out of the shower. She was finally home, in Forks, after two weeks in the hospital in Phoenix. She still had a long recovery ahead of her, but she was in good spirits. Alice and I were taking turns with her home care. I tilted my head to check on Charlie. He was in the kitchen making Bella a sandwich. I grinned. Sandwiches were safe, Bella had said, for Charlie. Anything else wasn't so certain. I scooped Bella up in my arms and walked her across the hall. Bella didn't protest, so I knew the shower had taken all her energy. I tucked her into bed before I addressed her question.

"Did who yell at me about what?" I was pretty sure I knew who she meant and about exactly what, but I didn't want to answer her question, really, so I hedged.

"Edward, about you going to my house to check on my mom without telling them. I know that's what you were doing." Bella's voice was tired, but she was regarding me with an intense gaze that heralded the start of a long heartfelt talk. I sighed.

"Pretty much everyone has yelled at me about it. Even Esme." I winced, remembering my mother's frantic yelling. It had faded quickly into comforting murmurs into my hair when she hugged me, but there had been yelling. Carlisle hadn't really yelled, but there had been a tense conversation in his office over the whole affair. In the end, though, he had told me how proud he was of how I'd handled the situation…other than the not telling them first part. I had provided a precious distraction, a cushion of seconds that had kept Bella alive.

The rest of the yelling, well, Emmett had been mad that I had started the fight without him, Jasper was livid because Bella had slipped past him and was mad at me for it, and Rosalie had yelled at me for risking my life for 'that stupid girl'. I had taken my brothers' yelling, but Rosalie I had slapped. That had shaken her up a little, I think. She hadn't talked to me since, but she seemed less angry this week. Edward still wasn't talking to me, either. I thought he was more hurt than angry. I knew he would talk to me when he was able to do so without exploding.

"I'm sorry. I had to go." She was apologizing to me and I leaned in and kissed her forehead.

"I know you did. I would have done the same thing. However, I know now that I should have told Alice the minute she walked back into the room. We would have come up with something to save your mom without putting you in so much danger." I said this now, but I knew that no one could have come up with a plan that didn't include using Bella's as bait and Edward would never have allowed that. Ever.

"You really heard him on the phone? Can all of you do that?" Ah, good, changing subject.

"No, just me. Seems the whole lose one sense and the rest upgrade to compensate bit works on vampires as well as humans. I can hear and smell about three times better than anyone in the family." I said this with a shrug. That hadn't helped me in Phoenix, so it seemed like such a useless thing.

"But you can see through other people's eyes, too, so you got a bonus skill." Bella smiled at the thought and I chuckled.

"I guess you could call it that. I'm glad of it. Means I can go to school with the rest of the family." I sighed softly. Charlie was on the way up with the sandwich.

"Your dad's bringing you lunch," I said this with a gentle smile. I helped Bella sit up. Charlie shouldered into the room with a breakfast tray. There was even a bright yellow daffodil in a vase that was teetering precariously beside the napkin wrapped sandwich and chips. The daffodil came from a bouquet of spring flowers, a get well delivery from a group of Bella's friends. I was pleasantly surprised by Charlie's thoughtfulness and when I looked at Bella's face through his eyes, I saw the look of tender love on her face. I sensed that Charlie wanted to talk with Bella so I excused myself. I leaned up to whisper in Charlie's ear on my way out, careful not to touch him with my cold skin.

"You're awesome." Charlie froze and I felt a blush rise in his cheeks as I caught the vase before it could tumble to the floor. I grinned and set it on Bella's bedside table before I left the room.

It was six o'clock when Carlisle stopped by to check on Bella and to pick me up. Alice and Edward would be over at seven. Alice would stay overnight and Edward would be leaving at nine thirty. Charlie was being difficult about Edward, putting all the blame for Bella's leaving Forks at his feet despite Bella's protests. So, Edward had enforced visiting hours. Not that he didn't sneak into Bella's bedroom almost every night anyway. Not tonight or tomorrow, though. He and I were going hunting this weekend. It would be the first time we'd been alone together since before Phoenix.

I was in my room, tying on a pair of hiking books when I heard the Volvo. I sighed softly, centered myself and began to recite the Hobbit in my head, complete with illustrations and a swelling orchestral score. It was my latest method of keeping my thoughts from wandering in Edward's presence. Eat your heart out, Peter Jackson, I thought wryly as I perched on the back of my couch facing my open window, waiting.

Edward didn't say anything when he came into my room. I sensed him there, hovering beside the couch. Probably listening to the screenplay in my head. I couldn't help a wry smile, since it was Edward that had introduced me to the Hobbit and it was his voice that I heard in my head, my narrator. When he finally stepped forward and touched my hand, I sprang through the window and to the ground. By the time I got to the garage, he was already in the car. We were going to Goat Rocks tonight. I slid in and leaned back, preparing myself for a silent ride with Bilbo and Sting keeping me company.

I was singing along under my breath with the dwarves about cracked plates when I felt Edward's finger tracing a line down my upper arm. I grimaced. I had forgotten to put on my long sleeve shirt before leaving the house. Darn hobbit. One of the few things that would scar a vampire was another vampire's teeth and nails. James had given me a few scratches and one bite. Bella and I considered our bite marks, which were in almost the exact same spot on our arms, as a kind of morbid friendship mark. It was one of the scratches, now pretty much healed, that Edward was tracing.

"Why did you go alone?" Ah, was this the question he needed answered most? It was the simplest one, and yet the hardest, to answer. I gave him part of the answer.

"I was hoping to save Bella's mother." I paused. "I didn't think he would be waiting for Bella at the house, thought I could approach the studio without him noticing, figure out where Renee was and go in from an angle he wouldn't expect..."

"But why _alone_, Leia." There was an edge of desperation in his voice. He really didn't have any idea of my motivations. I realized then just how well I hide my innermost thoughts from him. My surprise allowed him to catch the edges of his answer in my thoughts.

"You didn't think Bella would get away from Jasper and Alice." His voice was incredulous. I snorted softly.

"No, not really. I always intended to call from the house and let you know the situation, after I had an idea of what the whole situation was. So you could make plans. I underestimated James, I underestimated Bella and I overestimated myself." I had come to grips with all this already, but the bitterness still crept into my voice.

"But what happened if you couldn't get Renee out?" I shrugged and turned my face away from him. I knew he wouldn't like the answer to that question so I hedged. _I don't know_. The dwarves started singing again in my head to cover that lie. I heard Edward gritting his teeth. He did that a lot lately around me. He was quiet, though, until the car stopped in the driveway of an abandoned ranger station. I moved to get out of the car but he caught my wrist and I knew he wasn't going to let it go. It was time for our talk and we were going to sit here until he was satisfied.

"You didn't go into that situation without a plan, Leia. I know you aren't that stupid." His voice was rough with emotion and I shook my head stubbornly.

"Maybe I am that stupid. It's not like I could plan it all out before I gave Alice the slip, anyway. She would have seen everything." I felt panic bubbling up when I took a peek through his eyes. He was staring into the mirror, knowing the exact moment I was going to look. His dark gaze burned me from the inside out, drew out the answer he wanted. He dropped my wrist and disappeared from the car. He was at my door instantly, jerking me out of my seat. He flung me onto his back and I clung as he raced through the park. I laid my face against the back of his neck.

_All I had to do was stall him until you got there. I knew I could convince him I was a better hostage than Renee. But I told you, I underestimated him, overestimated me. Some plan. I was no match for him and it almost got Bella killed._

"He could have ripped you to shreds." Edward's voice was low, vibrating through his chest.

_Better me than Renee or Bella. Not that it mattered anyway. He just swatted me out of the way and made mince meat of her. If you hadn't gotten there when you did…. _My mind-voice was full of remorse. Edward came to an abrupt stop and peeled me off his back. I reached up hesitantly to touch his face. Oh, he was mad.

"Don't you dare try to make me the hero in all this, Leia Cullen. We all made our mistakes, even Bella. The blame has to be spread evenly here, the praise to. We all had our parts to play and thankfully we came out of it without losing anyone. No loss would have been acceptable, Leia." His face softened as his anger drained away, leaving only pain. I stroked his cheek.

"Whether you like it or not, Edward Cullen, you've always been a hero to me. I love you, brother mine." I expected him to demur or groan or yell at me for that statement, but to my surprise, he let it go and leaned down to kiss my forehead.

"And I love you, Leia Cullen. My life would be so much darker without your light in it."

And the talk was over.

"Let's hunt. Find me something that'll fight back, would you?" I felt Edward's mouth lift into a crooked smile under my hands and I ranged my senses eagerly, determined to find him the biggest, meanest mountain lion in the park.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: This is an AU story. There *is* some borrowed dialogue from Twilight and Midnight Sun in here somewhere. My story parallels B/E's romance. Please read the full disclaimer on chapter one.

Warning: POV changes will occur.

Disclaimer: The Twilight Series belongs to Stephanie Meyer. Mitts off Leia.

***********************************************************

Chapter Fourteen

"He can't ask me to prom! He has to ask Angela." I hissed this under my breath at Edward, who was wearing a smirk. Bella had still not come back to school, so it was back to normal at our table in the cafeteria. Mostly. Today was interesting because Edward had discovered Ben Chaney's plot to ask me to prom.

"He won't ask her. He's too caught up in the height difference. Besides, you've dazzled him one too many times." Edward said, using Bella's term for the human reaction to our vampire charms. I snorted.

"I've never looked directly at the boy and I've only spoken to him twice. No dazzle potential there." I was frustrated by this turn of events. I really liked Angela Weber and she had a very serious crush on Ben Chaney. Ben and I sat next to each other in more than one class but I never interacted with anyone besides Bella at school, beyond returning an occasional good morning. Well, Ben had been kind enough to loan me a pencil once.

"Everytime you say hello to him, he goes into mini-coma. Definitely dazzled." Edward said. I could see his golden eyes were sparkling with mirth through Alice's eyes. My sister had her feet in my lap, leaned back in her chair against Jasper. Jasper was tracing little patterns up and down her arms.

I laid my head down on the table with a groan. Emmett patted my head.

"Don't worry, little sister. Edward and I have a plan. By the time we go home this afternoon, he'll be running into Angela's arms." Oh, that sounded ominous.

"Alice?" I questioned.

"There's a 92 percent chance that he will ask Angela to the prom." She confirmed, but I wasn't quite satisfied.

"And the other 8 percent?" I had to know. Alice sighed.

"Six percent he just won't go to prom and two percent that he'll actually show more courage than Edward gives him credit for and still ask you to the prom."

"S'good odds." Jasper's voice was amused. "My plan was a hundred percent, though."

"One hundred percent chance that he would be traumatized for life, Jazz. The goal is to get him to ask out Angela." Rosalie's voice was bored. I was surprised she'd even bothered to join in the conversation. She had been very quiet the last few weeks. I knew she still resented Bella and hated the concept of Edward in love with her, but she was beginning to mellow a bit.

"I thought the goal was to keep him from asking Lei out. My plan would have guaranteed that." Jazz was definitely amused. I was curious, despite myself. Edward rolled his eyes.

"He was going to have a conversation with Ben about the finer points of some exotic, ancient Aztec torture methods. Alice didn't see him getting past the slow removal of toenails before Chaney bolted, completely cured of any urge to brave our wrath just to ask you out." I should have been horrified by the thought, but I felt an odd surge of tenderness for my oldest brother. I knew he felt it, because he caught up my hand and kissed the back of it.

"My hero," I said softly, with just a hint of laughter in my tone.

"Hey, hey. Mine." Alice grabbed Jasper's hand away from me and cradled it in her lap. I really did laugh then and Edward nudged me.

"See, you did it again." I looked through his eyes. He was staring at Ben Chaney, who was watching our table with a strange, stunned smile on his face and determination in his eyes. I was confused.

"I didn't DO anything!" I hissed this at Edward. He shook his head as if disappointed in me.

"You laughed. Ah, even little Brian Kregel glanced this way and he's scared to even utter your name." I snorted softly. Brian was Mac's little brother and I had wondered why he hadn't been spreading rumors about me all year. He was as big a bully as his brother was. This was the first I'd heard that he was afraid of me. "Face it little sister, you've got as much dazzle potential as the rest of us. Let us help you out of this one."

"Fine. Do whatever you're planning on doing. But he'd better not be scared of me, too, when you're done. I might actually need to borrow another pencil next time you say something stupid in Biology." I warned Edward solemnly. He held up a hand.

"I swear that he will be happy to loan you a pencil in times of crisis. He just won't ever want to ask you out again. You'll need to skip Trig, though. We can't get to him until Spanish." I snorted and sighed. The things I let my brothers do for the good of human kind. Maybe I would just skip the rest of the day. There was time for Edward to drive me to Bella's before lunch was over.

"Awesome idea." Edward's voice conveyed his delight with that idea. Any plan that gave him even a second of time with Bella a good one.

Prom

I sat in the darkest spot in the gym, perched at the top of the bleachers, and watched the swirl of lights on the floor through any one of a dozen or so eyes. I felt just a pang of loneliness as I watched my family twirl gracefully around the floor. Even Edward had convinced Bella to dance, somehow. The rest of the crowd kind of surged around them, always leaving a gap between them and the Cullen's. I would claim a dance with each of my brothers before the night was over, but for now I let them enjoy the dance as it should be. Couples.

I smiled wryly as I found Angela and Ben. Edward and Emmett had done good. Ben had indeed asked Angela to the prom that afternoon. From all accounts, he had actually run from Spanish in his rush to catch her before she could get to Jessica's car, since they carpooled together. Now they looked happy, despite the fact that Ben had to look up into his date's eyes. Jessica Stanley and Mike Newton were here somewhere, too. Tyler Crowley was oddly absent, but Lauren had come with a senior I didn't know. Bella's friends, I thought. There was still a line there, even though Bella, Edward and I sat at the other end of the table where all these people sat. They even included us in conversation. Sometimes.

I was sitting in the dark for two reasons. One, I was a vampire so staying as far as possible from the humans was always a good idea. Two, I was avoiding the boys. I shuddered as I remembered last year, but evidently very few of the boys prowling the edges of the dance floor looking for wallflowers had heard about it. I had turned down two of them before escaping the searching eyes of a third. What was it about school dances that made them forget those little warnings that kept them from approaching me during school? Maybe it was the dress.

Alice had outdone herself this time. My dress was an empire waisted dress of ice green silk with a gauzy silver overlay that made it shimmer like moonlight dancing. It would have been demure if it wasn't for the hem swirling around mid-thigh and showing off quite a bit of my long, shapely legs. My hair was caught up, my curls woven with a thin silver chain. It felt more like a ballet costume than a prom dress. I have even worn soft slippers with ribbons wrapped and tied around calves. It felt like me.

I perked up when I heard a song that was on my own personal playlist at home. "My Confession" by Josh Groben was a song that I had heard Jasper singing to Alice once, so it made me think of them whenever I heard it. I jumped up and began to dance along, up and down the top three bleacher rows. I sang under my breath.

I was finishing up my little dance when I smelled something strange, faint, but something I hadn't smelled very often since we'd left Alaska. I flowed down the bleachers, barely remembering to move slow enough not to scare the humans, much less pretend to be hesitant over each step, like I should. Edward stopped me at the edge of the dance floor. Without thought, I reached up and touched his face.

_I smell wolf_. I thought this at him and he laughed bitterly, his smile twisted.

"Not funny, Lei." I followed his eyes and saw Bella was dancing with someone I had never seen before, someone Native American, tall and lanky. He and Bella were shifting awkwardly back and forth as they talked. He was giving her a warning from his father, a request she break up with Edward.

_Quileute?_ I asked this in surprise and felt Edward's bitter smile melt into a frown.

"You weren't just being funny. You actually smell wolf?" He sounded surprised and…worried? I nodded.

_It's faint, but yes. It was a favorite of mine in Alaska, remember? I wouldn't forget it. They would be scarce enough around here to be off the menu. Figures._ My thoughts at him were amused. He was very quiet before leaving my side to go reclaim Bella. The young Quiluete boy left after that and the scent of wolf disappeared. Odd. Maybe a pack of wolves ran the reservation. I knew that wolves were a sacred animal for their tribe. I was going to ponder it more, but Emmett suddenly appeared at my side and demanded a dance. I laughed softly and surrendered myself into his arms.

I danced once more with Emmett and twice with Jasper, conscious the whole time that Bella and Edward had gone outside. I very politely concentrated on the noise of prom so I wouldn't be eavesdropping, enjoying the dances with my brothers. I was hoping Edward wouldn't forget his promise to dance with me, though. Not like we can't dance anytime I want at home, I reasoned with myself as the crowd began to thin out. It was nearing midnight and even though it was a special occasion, normal teenagers still had curfews.

As the DJ called last dance, I sighed and allowed Jasper to pull me towards the doors. We were halfway to Rosalie's car when I heard a soft curse across the parking lot. Edward was suddenly there with Bella tucked against his side. Her eyes were wide and apologetic and Edward looked sheepish.

"Lei…I forgot." He sounded truly sorry and I smiled. I winked at Bella, knowing she would see. I wasn't wearing my glasses tonight.

"You're in love, Edward. Tonight was for Bella. I'll take a rain check." He shifted forward and dragged me into a one armed hug, not letting go of Bella even then. He kissed my hair and sighed.

"I'm a terrible brother." I leaned up and kissed his cheek.

"It's okay, Jasper and Emmett kept me company. So, Bella, did you have fun?" The girl looked up at Edward with love evident in her deep, chocolate brown eyes. It was almost a sin to watch her through Edward's eyes, felt almost like intruding on an intimate moment. I let my vision go dark as she murmured how lovely the night had been.

"Then the prom was an official success. But now, Edward has to get you home before Charlie calls out the swat team." We all chuckled at that before Edward took Bella home and Jasper tossed me into the back seat of Rosalie's convertible with Alice. All in all, it had been a good night. Bella had enjoyed herself and Edward felt guilty about missing our dance, which meant he owed me one. I was sure I could use that to my advantage in the near future. I snuggled against my sister and smiled, content.


End file.
